President Park vows Seoul`s commitment to int`l efforts against ISIS

South Korean President Park Geun-hye made her debut at the United Nations. On Thursday, local time, she attended the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) summit for the first time among South Korean president. It was the sixth UNSC summit since the international body was founded 70 years ago. The summit, presided over by U.S. President Barack Obama, was held to discuss the issue of foreign fighters who have joined the Islamic terrorist organization known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Park expressed Seoul`s commitment to participating in international efforts against the terrorist group, saying that the IS and the foreign fighters was not an issue of a country or a region but had become "a problem to all of us." South Korea has been a non-permanent member (2-year term) of the UNSC since January 2013.

○ First S. Korean president to attend UNSC summit

Obama led the UNSC in approving a resolution calling for efforts to stem the flow of foreign jihadists to Iraq and Syria. There are an estimated 15,000 foreign terrorist fighters in the ISIS. Foreign terrorist fighters refer to individuals who voluntarily joined overseas terrorist groups.

The resolution passed by the UNSC is binding to all of the 197 U.N. member states. Each country is required to create a legal system against foreign terrorist fighters. "The Republic of Korea will faithfully implement the UNSC resolution by strictly executing law and effectively cut off funding sources," Park said. In addition, she stressed that it was necessary to provide humanitarian aid for underdeveloped countries and those victimized by the ISIS.

Prior to the summit, Park attended a high-level meeting of the U.N. Global Education First Initiative (GEFI), pledging that South Korea will donate 5 million dollars to the Global Partnership for Education.

○ Follow-up measures necessary to fight off ISIS

Implementing Park`s pledges at the U.N. calls for systematic follow-up measures. Seoul`s participation in the international efforts against the ISIS in earnest would cause concerns over the safety of South Korean companies and citizens in the Middle East. Currently, there are about 1,100 South Korean citizens in Iraq and none in Syria, which has no diplomatic relationship with Seoul. Still, there is a possibility that some South Koreans entered Syria via a third country.

"We are providing relevant information for and cooperating with Iraq in order to ensure the safety of Korean citizens and companies in Iraq," said an official at Seoul`s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As witnesses have claimed that there are Korean members of the ISIS, there is a possibility of a direct terrorist attack targeting South Korea. Also, attention is drawn to whether Seoul`s humanitarian role in the fight against the terrorist group will be expanded to military operations.

President Park Geun-hye also promised to double Korea`s contribution to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to 100 million dollars. If Seoul is to maintain its leadership in the GCF, it needs to have a concrete action plan. In July, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that Berlin would contribute 750 million euros (1.2 billion dollars) to the GCF, about 10 times the amount of Seoul`s pledged contribution.

"Although South Korea has attracted the GCF Secretariat to Songdo, Incheon, Germany wants to take the fund`s financial functions," a diplomatic source said. "Seoul should take the initiative in the GCF`s plan to raise 10 billion dollars by 2020."

○ No Korea-Japan summit; foreign ministers to meet

In the latest U.N. diplomacy, bilateral diplomacy attracted relatively less attention. The South Korean president had summits with her counterparts from Egypt, Uganda and Spain. A highly expected meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did not occur.

Instead, South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Byung-se plans to meet with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida. In August, the two met on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Myanmar. Attention is drawn to how Tokyo will respond to Seoul`s recent series of friendly gestures.

Japanese media projected that the foreign ministers would coordinate their positions in order to hold a bilateral summit on the sidelines of an international forum in November. However, the South Korean government remained cautious. "We need to watch Japan`s attitude more," a Seoul official said, adding that nothing had been decided regarding a South Korea-Japan summit.

"We never said that we would not want (a summit)," Noh Kwang-il, a spokesman for Seoul`s foreign ministry, told a news briefing. "We are open to it. But (Japan) needs to show sincere attitude toward past history."