Park arrives in New York to address U.N. General Assembly

By Kim Kwang-tae

NEW YORK, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrived in New York Monday to address the U.N. General Assembly and discuss with top global leaders such crucial issues as climate change and Islamist insurgents in Syria and Iraq.

Park's visit to New York -- part of her weeklong overseas trip that also took her to Canada -- will mark her debut at the United Nations since taking office last year.

Park is set to attend a closed-door banquet hosted by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, later in the day, according to Park's office.

On Tuesday, Park plans to attend the U.N. climate summit meant to galvanize action on cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases that scientists blame for global warming.

South Korea has vowed to try to bridge differences between advanced and developing countries in combating climate change.

South Korea has also made a voluntary commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from business-as-usual levels by 2020.

Seoul made the pledge in 2009, despite not being subject to a mandatory reduction requirement under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an international deal aimed at fighting global warming.

Park also plans to address the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday with a call for peace on the divided Korean Peninsula and in the Asian region.

In addition, Park plans to attend the U.N. Security Council summit scheduled to discuss the issue of foreign fighters who have joined the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

U.S. President Barack Obama, who is set to host the summit, has recently vowed to degrade and ultimately destroy IS, which has occupied large parts of northern Iraq and Syria.

Park plans to outline South Korea's contribution on the issue, her office said, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, a rare high-level meeting on North Korea's alleged human rights issue is also set to take place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in an apparent attempt to drum up international support for a U.N. resolution on the North's human rights record.

High-profile participants include U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein, the new U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

North Korea's human rights record has drawn greater international attention since the U.N. Commission of Inquiry issued a report in February after a year-long probe, saying that North Korean leaders are responsible for "widespread, systematic and gross" violations of human rights.

Earlier Monday, South Korea and Canada upgraded their relations to a strategic partnership as they signed a free trade agreement in Ottawa that both sides say could further boost bilateral trade and investment.

The free trade deal, concluded in March after nearly nine years of tough negotiations, needs to be ratified by the respective legislatures of Seoul and Ottawa before taking effect.

entropy@yna.co.kr
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