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C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000978 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2018 
TAGS: PREL EFIN SENV UNSC UNGA IN BR PK IT JP GM
SUBJECT: UNGA: SOUTH KOREAN PERM REP ON POSSIBLE NEW SC 
 
REFORM STRATEGY, G-20 SUMMIT AND SYG'S PLANS, AND RIO 20 
CONFERENCE 
 
REF: A. USUN NEW YORK 960 
     ¶B. USUN NEW YORK 902 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY: Ambassador Park told Ambassador Khalilzad 
October 24 that the Indian Perm Rep may send a letter to the 
UN General Assembly President (PGA) pressing for a compromise 
start date of mid-December for UN Security Council reform 
intergovernmental negotiations.  Park and Khalilzad agreed 
they would both press the PGA to abide by the "spirit" of the 
compromise decision (62/557) and not start the negotiations 
before February.  Park said the Uniting for Consensus (UFC) 
bloc concluded it needs to adjust its Security Council reform 
platform to attract new members in order to be a credible 
counterweight to the Group of Four (G-4) when intergovernment 
negotiations commence.  Proposals include longer-term members 
who can seek re-election and a specific two-year rotating 
seat specifically for small, island, or land-locked states. 
Ambassador Khalilzad responded that re-electable, longer-term 
members could be an interesting idea and said he would convey 
the proposal back to Washington.  Park recounted his recent 
conversation with Secretary General Ban, who will be away 
from the UN during the October 30 Interactive Panel on the 
Global Financial Crisis, but is planning to host an informal 
plenary briefing followed by a discussion during the period 
November 6-11 to collect input from the membership for Ban's 
participation in the G-20 Summit.  Park reiterated Korea's 
interest in hosting a Rio 20 conference in Korea in 2012 (ref 
B) to which Ambassador Khalilzad replied that he had not 
heard back from Washington on the proposal.  End summary. 
 
UN Security Council reform 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) Ambassador Park thanked Ambassador Khalilzad in an 
October 24 bilateral meeting for his first-hand involvement 
in pressing the UN General Assembly President (PGA) to not 
accelerate the timeline for the start of Security Council 
reform intergovernmental negotiations (ref A).  Park relayed 
that, according to the Italian Ambassador, the Indian Perm 
Rep may be planning to send a letter to the PGA asking for a 
compromise start date for intergovernmental negotiations in 
mid-December.  Both Ambassadors Park and Khalilzad agreed 
they would be "vigilant" in pressing the PGA to abide by 
"spirit" of the September 15 compromise decision (62/557). 
 
¶3.  (C) Ambassador Park said that the Uniting for Consensus 
(UFC) bloc has concluded that it cannot "survive" with its 
previous platform of only supporting an expansion of 
non-permanent seats and is, therefore, considering modifying 
its platform to emphasize interim measures.  Park said the 
UFC hoped to attract one-third of the membership and be a 
credible block to the Group of Four (G-4), giving the UFC 
some negotiating weight for the phase of intergovernmental 
negotiations.  One proposal under consideration would be for 
longer-term members (length of term still under discussion) 
who can seek re-election.  He said there would be no 
specification as to which countries would get these 
longer-term seats.  They would be open to competition and 
therefore available to emerging powers.  Park stressed, 
however, that Korea remained opposed to an expansion of 
permanent members.  By Korea's calculation, such a proposal 
in favor of longer-term and re-electable members could prove 
attractive to 15-20 emerging powers who might be willing to 
join their bloc.  Also under consideration, he said, is a 
proposal to set aside a regular two-year non-permanent 
rotating seat or seats specifically for small, island, or 
land-locked states who are not normally able to compete for a 
seat in a regional group.  He provided the example of Bhutan 
and the Solomon Islands in the Asia Group.  Ambassador Park 
requested U.S. feedback on these proposals. 
 
¶4.  (C) Ambassador Khalilzad responded that the U.S. has 
generally not weighed in on the idea of a specific seat or 
seats for small, island, or land-locked states since we think 
regional seats afford them the opportuntiy for 
representation.  Our focus on reform has been how to 
accomodate the emerging powers.  Our concern about 
longer-term memberships has been that it might encourage 
irresponsible behavior from those in permanent campaign mode 
for re-election.  Ambassador Khalilzad said he would convey 
 
 
 
the proposals back to Washington for review and would be in 
touch with Washington's response. 
 
G-20 Summit and role of the UN 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (C) Ambassador Park said he had spoken to Secretary 
General Ban who confirmed that he would be away from the UN 
during the PGA's October 30 Interactive Panel on the Global 
Financial Crisis but that Ban had met with a group of 
prominent economists October 23 and would meet October 24 
with the heads of the Bretton Woods institutions.  According 
to Park, Ban is planning to host an informal plenary briefing 
followed by discussion during the period November 6-11, so 
that Ban can collect input from the membership to convey to 
the G-20 Summit.  Ambassador Khalilzad replied that he has 
advocated for the Secretary General to be given an 
opportunity to speak at the G-20 Summit.  Ambassador Park 
relayed that the French Ambassador had heard that the PGA may 
try to introduce a GA resolution to influence the G-20 
deliberations.  Ambassador Khalilzad said that we would be 
closely monitoring the PGA to head off such an initiative. 
 
 
Rio 20 Conference 
----------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) Ambassador Park followed up on his October 1 
discussion with Ambassador McMahan (ref B) about Korea's 
interest in hosting a Rio 20 conference in Korea in 2012.  He 
reiterated that it is the right time for Asia to host such a 
stock-taking conference and said that the G-77 was pushing 
for such an event.  Park suggested that a resolution be 
adopted calling for a world conference in 2012.  Afterwards 
the decision can be made on which country should host. 
Ambassador Khalilzad said he had not heard back from 
Washington about Korean's proposal but would press for a 
reply. 
Khalilzad