U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed support Monday for South Korean President Park Geun-hye's vision for confidence-building with North Korea and promised to play whatever roles possible for peace on the Korean Peninsula, an official said.
The South Korean-born U.N. chief made the remarks when he met with Park at U.N. headquarters. Park arrived in New York on Sunday on the first leg of a five-day visit to the United States that will take her to Washington later Monday for a summit with President Barack Obama.
During the meeting, Park outlined the "Korean Peninsula trust process," her trademark policy on North Korea that calls for dialogue and exchanges to foster trust with Pyongyang so as to reduce tensions across one of the world's most heavily fortified borders.
"Secretary-General Ban expressed support for the Korean Peninsula trust process and reaffirmed that he will play every possible role to help maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," presidential spokesman Yoon Chang-jung said.
Noting that South Korea has grown from a recipient of U.N. donations into a middle power country, Park said that Seoul plans to expand contributions to U.N. efforts to make the world better off while playing an active role in promoting international peace as a member of the U.N. Security Council, Yoon said.
About 100 South Koreans greeted Park as she arrived at U.N. headquarters, some of them holding a placard welcoming her and wishing for "a second miracle of the Han River," a yearning for their homeland to make a yet another economic leap forward just like it pulled itself from poverty after the 1950-53 Korean War.
Ahead of the meeting with the U.N. chief, Park left a guestbook message, "The Republic of Korea will always stand side by side with the U.N. to promote a more prosperous, happier global community."
Park and Ban also discussed ways to increase cooperation between South Korea and the United Nations on climate change and other global issues, the spokesman said.
After the talks, Park and Ban attended a meeting with about 70 South Korean staff members working at U.N. headquarters to boost their morale. Park said during the meeting that her government plans to redouble efforts to help young South Koreans land jobs overseas.
Ban's office confirmed that the former South Korean foreign minister reaffirmed his readiness to "contribute to defusing tension and promoting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."
He "strongly supported her (Park's) determination to resolve inter-Korean differences through building trust and dialogue," it said in an emailed press release.
"The Secretary-General expressed his concern about the serious food and nutrition situation in the DPRK (North Korea) in particular youth and other vulnerable group(s) and appreciated the continued willingness of the ROK (South Korea) Government to help address the humanitarian situation in the DPRK," it said.
Later Monday, Park was to fly to Washington for her first summit with Obama, set for Tuesday, when the two leaders are expected to focus on coordinating their stances on how to deal with North Korea.
In recent weeks, the communist nation has toned down its war rhetoric and begun talking about the possibility of dialogue with Washington after weeks of nuclear strike threats and other menacing bombast against South Korea and the United States.
During a meeting Sunday with South Korean residents in New York, Park said South Korea is leaving the door open for dialogue with North Korea while maintaining a strong deterrence and preparing for any provocations.
"Should North Korea stop provocations and take the right path that the international community recognizes, I will open up a path of co-development of inter-Korean relations through the Korean Peninsula trust process," she said. (Yonhap News)
