Ban Ki-moon visits the UN Memorial Cemetery in Korea to pay tribute to fallen soldiers

August 13, 2019

Co-chair of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens Ban Ki-moon visited the “United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea” in Busan, South Korea and paid tribute to fallen soldiers on August 11th. This cemetery is the final resting place of the fallen UN soldiers and war veterans who fought in defense of peace and freedom following the outbreak of the Korean War.

Hearing that South Korea had been invaded by North Korea on June 25th, 1950, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution declaring the invasion as an act of provocation that threatened international peace and security and demanded that the North immediately withdraw its forces. Furthermore, the Council asked the member nations of the General Assembly for assistance for South Korea.

General Douglas MacArthur became the Chief Commander of the UN Forces in South Korea and the decision to dispatch UN Forces was reached. Combat units and medical units provided by 21 nations under the UN flag came under the leadership of General MacArthur.

The Korean War was a war that free nations banded together under the UN flag and successfully fought off the aggressors to preserve international peace. A symbolic area in the Cemetery always flies high the 21 nations’ national flags and the UN flag for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Visit UNMCK: http://www.unmck.or.kr

The First South Korean Interpol President Kim Jong Yang visits the Ban Ki-moon Foundation in Seoul

July 26, 2019
Mr. Kim Jong Yang, who recently visited the Ban Ki-moon Foundation For a Better Future in Seoul, has served as the President of the International Criminal Police Organization as the first South Korean since last year.
 
Interpol‘s Constitution requires that the President:
  • Preside at meetings of the General Assembly and the Executive Committee and direct the discussions;
  • Ensure that the activities of the Organization are in conformity with the decisions of the General Assembly and the Executive Committee;
  • Maintain, as far as possible, direct and constant contact with the Secretary General of the Organization.
Watch President Kim’s opening remarks at Interpol’s General Assembly held this year: https://youtu.be/jGofkxIJWxU
Photos: Ban Ki-moon Foundation For a Better Future

Ban Ki-moon meets with Pope Francis to talk about peace in Korea and climate change

April 12, 2019

On April 11th, 2019, BKMC Co-chair Ban Ki-moon visited the Vatican to have a private meeting with His Holiness Pope Francis. The two discussed on the topic of peace in the Korean peninsula and the globe as well as the issues surrounding climate change.

Mentioning his firm advocacy for peace in the Korean peninsula, the Pope stressed the importance of the continuous conversation between two Koreas in settling peace on the peninsula. He also stressed that the environment is the matter directly related to the existence of mankind, and the humankind cannot survive without solving the climate issues.

As the Pope delivered a speech at the UN General Assembly in 2015 and supported the UN with adopting the Paris Climate Agreement, Ban expressed his gratitude again for the Pope’s great attention to the global issues. Mentioning his new leadership role as the Head of the National Committee to fight against micro dust issues in Korea, Ban asked for the Pope’s continuous attention to the climate challenge and support for the necessary cooperation within the international community.

News clip by Yonhap News Agency (Korean): https://bit.ly/2VPVupK 

Photos: The Vatican

BKMC Board members get welcomed by South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon in Seoul

February 20, 2019

Upon their visit to Seoul, South Korea to participate in the Global Engagement & Empowerment Forum (GEEF) 2019, some of the Board members of the Centre were welcomed by South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon on February 15th, 2019. Prime Minister Lee has also welcomed the BKMC Board last year on the occasion of the Centre’s first Board meeting held on the margins of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

During the meeting this time, Prime Minister Lee and Ambassador Choo Jong-youn, who is Diplomatic Advisor to the Prime Minister, were informed of the Centre’s implemented projects with the fund received from the Korea Foundation at the end of last year. Including the GEEF 2019 that took place on February 14-15th, the Centre exchanged its successful ongoing and upcoming projects in close partnership with its partners in Korea. BKMC Co-chair Heinz Fischer, who is former President of the Republic of Austria, and Prime Minister Lee also discussed the peace process in Korea, including denuclearization in the Korean peninsula.

Other BKMC Board members who were present at the meeting were Ambassador Sadiq Marafi of the Kuwaiti Embassy in Vienna, Ambassador Shin Dong-ik of the Korean Embassy in Vienna, Dr. Irina Bokova who is former Director General of UNESCO, Dr. Márcia Balisciano who serves as Director of Corporate Responsibility of RELX Group, and Monika Froehler, CEO of the Centre.

The Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens looks forward to further strengthening its close relationship with Korea throughout pursuing the upcoming cooperative projects with its partner organizations in Korea.

Photo by the Prime Minister’s Office

“Building Peace through Sports, Culture, and Economic Cooperation” – Changwon World Peace and Democracy Forum

September 2, 2018

Changwon World Peace and Democracy Forum was organized in the occasion of the 52nd ISSF World Championship in Changwon, South Korea on September 1, 2018. ISSF stands for the International Shooting Sport Federation, and for the first time in history North Korea’s shooting team participates in its championship this year.

The forum focused on “The Realization of World Peace through Economy, Culture, and Sport” and gathered world leaders, intellectuals, and experts of each field to deliver a message of peace.

During his keynote speech at the forum, Ban Ki-moon Centre’s Co-chair Ban Ki-moon emphasized the importance of sports for peace with the example of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

“Sport and peace have a profound relationship. Sport can contribute to peace as it has the power to promote tolerance and mutual understanding.” He continued, “We have witnessed it at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, that will remain as an historical moment of peace for the Korean peninsula.”

ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Raña also mentioned about the recent Olympics during the forum:

“Earlier this year, the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics launched a powerful message of peace to the world. We will never forget the image of the athletes from South Korea and North Korea parading together with the flags of South Korea, North Korea and the Korean Peninsula. This was an inspiring example of sport promoting peace and unity.”

Ban expressed his appreciation for the opportunity for both Korean athletes to get closer through the championship,

“This is a great occasion to promote inter-Korean relationships and to build on the momentum. I believe it’s great that athletes from the North and from the South will get to compete in the same events.”

President Raña also added that world peace through sport is a common goal of the UN, the IOC, and the ISSF and emphasized how the sport has positive impact on peace and unity.

Along with the forum, the Opening Ceremony of the 52nd ISSF World Championship in all shooting events took place with 1806 athletes from 90 nations.

Source and Photo: https://www.issf-sports.org/news.ashx?newsid=3116

Ban suggests adopting the “Negative Regulation System” for sustainable future at the 2018 FKI CEO Summer Forum

July 26, 2018

The Centre’s Co-chairman Ban Ki-moon gave a speech at the 2018 FKI CEO Summer Forum on the topic of sustainable future that Korean corporations will make. The forum is annually organized by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and is a knowledge-share platform for the CEOs in every sector and industry in Korea. This year, the forum was held in Jeju with a theme “Create New Opportunities, Create New Future.”

Ban emphasized the necessity of adopting “Negative Regulation System” that allows everything possible except what is impossible in order to prepare for the 4th industrial revolution. Through the system, he urged to maximize human creativity. Regarding the possible economic cooperation between two Koreas, Ban expressed hope for the leap of Korean corporations in utilization of unlimited potential growth of North Korean economy on the basis of “trust but verify” attitude.

Photo: FKI
Source: http://www.edaily.co.kr/news/news_detail.asp?newsId=03834326619275832&mediaCodeNo=257&OutLnkChk=Y

Ban urges reinforcement of global citizenship and international collaboration for peace and prosperity in Asia at the Jeju Forum

June 29, 2018

Ban Ki-moon participated as a panelist and a keynote speaker in the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity held in Jeju, Korea on June 26-28, 2018. The forum was hosted by the Government of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province with support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea.

The Jeju Forum is a regional multilateral dialogue where high-ranking public officials, experts, and world leaders gather to discuss and share future visions on how to approach sustainable peace and prosperity in Asia. For this year, “Reengineering Peace for Asia” was the theme for this 3-day forum as Asia has been facing an increasing array of security problems and challenges for the recent years.

The forum suggested that the task of re-engineering peace can be approached in the following ways:

  • to prioritize peace and prosperity in Asia
  • to energize the process of achieving and preserving peace and prosperity
  • to seek after Alternatives as new workable solutions
  • to seek Cooperation rather than competition or conflicts
  • to cultivate Eco-systems ripe for cooperative alternatives for peace and prosperity in Asia

At the Opening ceremony and World Leaders Session, Ban urged reinforcement of global citizenship, collaborative wisdom and cooperation between countries, and peaceful and harmonious way of denuclearization in North Korea. He also emphasized that there should be no more failure or repetition of the mistakes from the past.

Source & Photo: http://jejuforum.or.kr

Ban Ki-moon Makes Mention of the Cancellation of the High-level Inter-Korean Meeting

May 16, 2018

Regarding North Korea’s sudden cancellation of the high-level talks today, Ban Ki-moon showed his concerns and mentioned North Korea’s nonfulfillment of the previous agreements between two Koreas. An interview with Ban was conducted by the CNBC.

Despite the concerns, Ban showed some optimistic views and contended that

    “it is important that [North Korea] should be fully committed to all these detailed agreements.”

If the Summit between North Korea and the United States is successfully held next month in Singapore,

    Ban stressed that the Summit should draw up “a bold and concrete agreement to dismantle nuclear weapons and to denuclearize North Korea.”

Speaking about the importance of having advanced negotiations, Ban strongly hoped that this time North Korea does not disappoint the excitement and the wish of the international community and that

    “the Summit meeting between the two leaders will be a successful one.”

Although the entire peace process may not be complete by one Summit meeting, Ban sees that it could be possible through mutual efforts of the countries involved and with the great support from the international community.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/16/ban-ki-moon-iran-deal-pullout-sends-bad-message-to-north-korea.html
Photo: Newsis

Ban Ki-moon Meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing

May 16, 2018

Ban Ki-moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Beijing, China. The two leaders discussed how China can best apply its political leadership power in making Asia an important platform for promoting harmonious coexistence of the people around the world.

As host country of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) of which Ban is the Chairman, China promised to support the BFA to amplify its influence. Xi said that

    1. “the mission and purpose of the forum is to promote economic integration in Asia, boost exchanges and cooperation between regional countries and the world, to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results.”

Ban emphasized on the importance of promoting Asia’s openness and innovation to obtain strength and to solve global issues through unification of Asian countries.

During his official visit to Beijing, Ban also appreciated Xi’s support for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in making strategic decisions.

  1. “China has been playing a very important role,” Ban said, “I hope for and I urged him to continue to render his strong political leadership so that North Korea will be bound by all these agreements which will come out from the US-North Korean Summit and also the sincere implementation of Panmunjom declaration.”

Source: http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1102482.shtml
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/16/ban-ki-moon-iran-deal-pullout-sends-bad-message-to-north-korea.html
Photo: Boao Forum for Asia

Ban Ki-moon and Heinz Fischer´s Remarks on Efforts for Peace and Denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula

April 30, 2018

A historic Inter-Korean summit between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea took place on 27 April 2018 between South Korea´s President Moon Jae-in and the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The summit took place after the two sides held several meetings in preparation for the joint attendance at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The summit was focused on the North Korean nuclear weapons program and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea´s President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “confirmed the common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.”

The Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula was adopted. According to the declaration, North and South Korea agreed to work together on ending the Korean War, beginning a new era of peace and sharing commitments in ending divisions and confrontation by approaching a new era of national reconciliation, peace and prosperity and improvements to inter-Korean relations.

 

“A historic day for Korea! We sincerely wish that it will pave the way for lasting peace and denuclearization on the Korean peninsula”, the two Co-Chairmen of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens, former UNSG, Ban Ki-moon and former Federal President of Austria, Heinz Fischer remarked via Twitter.