Korea affirms support for UN peacekeeping missions

Deputy foreign minister for multilateral and global affairs Kweon Ki-hwan speaks during a session of the 2023 United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial, in Accra, Ghana, Dec. 5-6. Courtesy of Seoul's foreign ministry

Korea has attended a United Nations (U.N.) peacekeeping ministerial forum and pledged its support for the global community's commitment to strengthen peacekeeping operations (PKO), Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.

The Korean delegation led by Kweon Ki-hwan, the deputy foreign minister for multilateral and global affairs, attended the two-day "2023 U.N. Peacekeeping Ministerial" that kicked off Tuesday in Accra, Ghana, where over 80 member nations discussed ways to enhance PKO missions, according to the ministry.

Kweon affirmed Korea's support for PKO missions and pledged to provide medical training to peacekeeping personnel as a follow-up to an initiative Seoul announced while hosting the 2021 forum to capitalize on new technologies and boost medical capacity, it added.

Separately, Kweon paid a courtesy call on Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the foreign minister of Ghana, and discussed Ghana's experiences in the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) as a nonpermanent member in 2022-2023.

The meeting came as Korea prepares to assume a two-year term as a nonpermanent UNSC member in 2024-25. (Yonhap)