Acting Deputy Spokesperson: No, it's just fitting at this stage for a matter that's under consideration by the Security Council for us to wait to see what it is, what decision that they come to. Yes, Khaled?
Question: What we're saying is that what is under consideration by the Council and the statement, and concerning, as you know, Matthew said, who is to blame and who is to condemn, but both Mr. Churkin and Mrs. Rice said yesterday there was agreement on the need for an envoy, different from the task taken by Mr. Pascoe in February. So, what does the Secretary-General feel about that?
Acting Deputy Spokesperson: Well, if there is an agreement among Council members, we are sure that that can manifest itself in a unified position taken by the Security Council and we'd await that.
Question: But he said he (the Security Council -ed) had a unified position on the envoy, but not on the condemnation issue. That's what he said.
Acting Deputy Spokesperson: Well, like I said, if they can agree on any particular point, we would await that particular agreement and respond in kind."
This reluctance to appoint an envoy for the Korean Peninsula expressed by the Secretary General's Deputy Spokesman could be considered all the more surprising when taking into account an interview with Ban Ki-moon in November 2006 after Ban Ki-moon was chosen to be the UN Secretary General (for the 2007-2011 term). In the interview published in the Korean newspaper Hankyoreh, Ban said that once he was Secretary General, he would appoint an envoy to help to resolve the tension on the Korean Peninsula. The Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary General, however, now responding to questions from journalists, said that Ban would wait for the Security Council to take action on the issue of the envoy. Following is an excerpt from the November 2006 interview with Ban Ki moon. Professor Moon Chung-in of Yonsei University is asking the questions for Hankyoreh(11):
"Q: It is unfortunate that the North Korean nuclear situation has worsened, despite your will to resolve it as the Foreign Minister. The North Korean nuclear issue is not one limited to the Korean Peninsula or North Korea, but rather is a global issue and one of importance to the UN. Are you stressing this resolution of this issue as Secretary-General only because you could not resolve it as Foreign Minister?
A: Secretary-General Kofi Annan also carried a large interest in [resolving] the North Korean issue and appointed a special envoy to North Korea, but he could not set foot in the country during his 10-year tenure. As for Special Envoy to North Korea Maurice Strong, he was implicated in an unsavory affair and resigned midway through his term. I will appoint a politician or diplomat with the confidence of the international community, someone who has the trust of both North and South Korea to actively push the issue forward. The envoy must be one to impel the six-party talks to action when they stagnate, and must be prepared to play a direct role when necessary. I am even ready to intervene directly when intervention is called for.
Q: The UN created the North South cease-fire agreement. Although both Koreas, the U.S.'s and China's roles are important in transforming the cease-fire regime into a peaceful order, the UN must participate to reach a legal and systematic conclusion. What plans do you have to spur the creation of a peaceful order?
A: Fundamentally, this issue must be discussed between the U.S. and North Korea, but the UN must decide how to help as it is inextricably linked with the problem, and UN specialists must come to an agreement."
Under Article 99 of the UN Charter, the Secretary General has the ability to act in situations where there is a danger to international peace and security(12). He can ask the Security Council to act in a situation. Hence it is all the more surprising that Secretary General Ban would insist on waiting for the Security Council to act, when it is his prerogative under the UN Charter to ask the Security Council to act. Similarly, he has the ability in what is referred to as "his good offices" to send an envoy to help to resolve tension in a volatile situation, an action Ban has taken with other situations, but which he has not taken with regard to the escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula. As the Deputy Spokesman noted, Ban did send some of his staff to Pyongyang in February 2010, so he recognizes he is not dependent on the Security Council to undertake a peace initiative. (13) Yet in the four years of his tenure thus far as UN Secretary General, he has not yet acted on the commitment he made in November 2006 to appoint an envoy to engage in efforts to resolve the tension on the Korean Peninsula.
Despite the fact that the Security Council did not issue a press statement, and the fact the Secretary General has not appointed an envoy, the actions by Ambassador Churkin on behalf of the Russian Federation and others on the Security Council did succeed in bringing international public attention to the crisis situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Ambassador Churkin took the initiative to request an emergency meeting of the Security Council to ask South Korea to refrain from its planned firing drill on the contested waters surrounding Yeonpyeong Island, and to ask North Korea to refrain from responding.
Both the Chinese and Russian foreign ministries sent representatives to both North and South Korea to urge them to settle their disputes via dialogue.
Also a number of articles appeared in the English language Chinese press on the crisis situation, some of which were critical of the provocative actions taken by South Korea and of the US government for encouraging such actions. (14)
As Ambassador Churkin told journalists after the December 19 Security Council meeting, "I would like to think that this meeting of the Council will have an impact on the situation."
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