Rising Powers at UN Tackle North Korean Crisis and Other Priorities

Policy Alert #151 | September 26, 2017

The 72nd Session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) opened on September 19th amidst continued tensions on the Korean Peninsula and joint military drills between China and Russia as well as South Korea, the US, and Japan. US President Donald Trump’s fiery, controversial words in his first speech at the United Nations set the tone of other world leaders’ responses to these crises during the three day event. President Trump had a tough message for North Korea and he also challenged the UN: “The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime. The United States is ready, willing, and able, but hopefully this will not be necessary. That’s what the United Nations is all about; that’s what the United Nations is for. Let’s see how they do.”

SOUTH KOREA
Prior to the opening ceremonies of the UNGA, South Korea participated in joint military drills with the US and Japan as North Korea to continued its missile tests. In his speech to the UN General Assembly, President Moon Jae-In expressed his appreciation for the continued efforts by the UN Security Council to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, while also reiterating the need for a peaceful solution and that South Korea is “ready to assist North Korea together with the international community” if it abandons its nuclear ambitions.

• Before the UNGA kicked off, liberal-leaning Hankyoreh advocated for President Moon to “convince world leaders that solving the nuclear problem with dialogue and peaceful approaches […] is in accordance with the global interest” during his time at the UN.
• The Korea Herald took another track and criticized President Moon’s assertion that South Korea need not develop its own nuclear weapons to deal with North Korea’s threat, arguing that “it is an undeniable truth that nuclear weapons can only be deterred only by nuclear weapons.” Korea Institute School of Public Policy and Management Professor Kim Byoung-Joo echoed these pro-nuclear sentiments, arguing that although China would undoubtedly oppose South Korea’s nuclearization, it was time for China to “face the true price for acquiescing to North Korea.”
• The conservative-leaning Korea Jooang Daily also chided President Moon for his cabinet’s “indecisive response” in the face of the threat from North Korea in which Moon vowed for “maximum pressure” against the regime while offering Pyongyang humanitarian aid.  It urged an “unflinching alliance with Washington” over “dialogue with rogue states.”

JAPAN
North Korea fired two missiles over Japan in the last month. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated in his address to the UNGA that the answer to the North Korea problem is “not dialogue, but pressure,” and that Japan supports the US position on the matter. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga “greatly appreciate[d] President Trump’s approach to changing North Korea’s policy stance.”

• The conservative-leaning Yomiuri Shimbun, citing Japan as the second largest contributor to the UN general budget, called for reforms to eliminate “wasteful expenditures [and] unnecessary departments and operations,” to prevent UN agencies, such as UNESCO, from being used for political purposes, and to expand the permanent membership of the UN Security Council. It also supported President Trump’s strong denouncement of North Korea’s “outrageous acts” and his inclusion of the issue of Japanese abductees in his speech.
• An editorial in the left-leaning Mainichi responded to calls for Japan and the US to double-down on their security efforts with a warning that doing so would increase the likelihood of an accidental outbreak of conflict and reiterated the need for the UN Security Council to “reconfirm whether its past resolutions have been implemented in an effective way.”
• The progressive Asahi Shimbun criticized the Japanese government’s current line, arguing that “Japan cannot claim to be making every diplomatic effort to resolve the situation if all it does is advocate stronger pressure on the North,” and instead called on the government to take a stronger diplomatic role to resume negotiations with North Korea.

CHINA
In his speech at the general debate of the General Assembly, Minister for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi emphasized China’s commitment to regional stability and peace, and appeared to indirectly reply to criticisms of China’s actions in the South China Sea and its handling of  North Korea’s recent provocations. He urged all party states to seek a diplomatic solution to tensions on the Korean Peninsula, arguing that “negotiation is the only way out and deserves every effort.” Minister Wang also asserted that “China has no genes of aggression and record of plunder” and reiterated Chinese President Xi Jinping’s promise that “China will never seek hegemony.”

Foreign ministers of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) met on the sidelines of the UNGA. Wang called on BRICS members to “uphold the banner of multilaterialism” at the UN.

• The nationalist Global Times argued that the best way to handle the North Korean crisis was to allow the sanctions time to take effect and to “leave the door open to talks.”
• In several articles over the past week, state-directed China Daily has emphasized that the “world must stay calm” and “poised” in the face of North Korean provocations. It also reiterated that “pressuring China ‘to solve’ [the] conflict will not work” and that the solution lies in international cooperation.
• In an op-ed, Jilin University Professor Yao Lu complained that the US’s strategic actions in the region, such as the joint military drills with South Korea, and continued “frontal attacks” on the regime through increased sanctions and belligerent criticism  has exacerbated the Kim’s belligerence by “adding fuel on the fire.”
• Renmin University Professor Jin Canrong, on the other hand, called for the continuation of a “stable Beijing-Washington relationship.”  In his column for The Global Times, he asserts that China has been “vital” to stability in the region, and that the US is routinely “stirring up trouble” in the South China Seas and using North Korea’s nuclear ambitions as a pretext for increasing its military presence in the region.
• In an article for the South China Morning Post, Lingnan University Professor Zhang Baohui advocated that “Beijing needs to insist on the US committing to dialogue with North Korea as a condition for supporting any more sanctions,” as sanctions “cannot address the root cause of North Korea’s nuclear ambition.”
• Li Kaisheng, a Research Fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, urged the Chinese government to continue to act as a “spokesperson for developing countries” in international organizations, despite the country’s transition to a developed economy.

RUSSIA
Just prior to the UNGA, Russia participated in military exercises with China near the North Korean border. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov welcomed some points in President Trump’s speech, noting his commitment to not “impose [the US] way of life on others” was “a very welcome statement.”

• An editorial by Sputnik News, a government-funded news outlet, criticized the US for “demonstrating inflexibility and openly blackmailing Beijing” to solve the crisis at its own expense, and expressed support for China and Russia’s emphasis on the need for a “double freeze” in hostility between the US and North Korea.
• Russian political analyst Andrei Manoylo said in an interview with Radio Sputnik that “North Korea will weather [the] sanctions with ease,” and should be instead “be presented with opportunities for cooperation.”
• Government-owned TASS praised the Russian delegation for walking out during Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite’s speech at the UNGA in which she allegedly “continued her ungrounded verbal attacks on Russia” regarding its military drills with Belarus.

INDIA
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj delivered a forceful 22 minute speech at the UNGA for which she received high praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in several tweets. She called for action on global challenges and Indian priorities ranging from climate change, proliferation, UN Security Council reform, maritime security, poverty, and terrorism. But she trained her greatest attention to Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khakan Abbasi’s earlier remarks at the UNGA accusing India of human rights violations. In a blistering attack, the Indian Foreign Minister mockingly asked, “Why is it that today India is a recognised IT superpower in the world, and Pakistan is only recognised as the pre-eminent export factory for terror?”

A series of sideline meetings by the Foreign Minister were particularly important for Indian interests.

• Sushma Swaraj discussed women’s entrepreneurship with Ivanka Trump, daughter and special advisor of President Trump, ahead of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India in November where she will be representing the United States.
• Minister Swaraj also met with Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay to discuss “bilateral cooperation” just three weeks after the end to the standoff between India and China in the Himalayas at Dokham, a contested tri-junction meeting point.
• In a trilateral meeting with the US and Japan, India condemned the recent provocations by North Korea and urged that “its proliferation linkages must be explored and those involved must be held accountable,” with External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Raveesh Kumar insinuating they were referring to Pakistan’s past engagement with the reclusive regime.

Indian press commentary was mostly limited to Sushma Swaraj’s critique of Pakistan.

• In the lead up to the UNGA, C. Raja Mohan, Director of Carnegie India and top foreign affairs expert, had urged Minister Swaraj to not “let the inevitable bickering with Islamabad on Kashmir” distract from pursuit of other policy objectives at the UN. He hailed what he sees as the shift from naysaying to leadership in international affairs under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, especially in India’s efforts to generate consensus at the 2015 Paris climate talks. He also praised New Delhi for increasing attention to the UNGA meeting to find “common ground on specific issues with the US, China, Japan, Europe, and Russia in smaller plurilateral fora.”
• Following Sushma Swaraj’s speech, the editorial team in the leading business daily, Economic Times, argued that India needed to go beyond the inevitable attempt to counter Pakistan at the UNGA and declared that “it is time for New Delhi to broaden its world view. Over the years and successive administrations, Pakistan has come to dominate India’s UNGA address.” It reminded the government that while Pakistan needed to be countered, “The UNGA is the forum for India to step up to shape the global dialogue. India needs to leverage the UNGA better.”

BRAZIL
Since the 10th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1955, Brazil’s head of state has always given the opening speech followed by the United States. This tradition is not part of any official statute of the U.N., but it honors Brazil as one of the founders of the organization and its then Foreign Minister, Oswaldo Aranha, who played a key role in the negotiations leading to its establishment. On September 18, President Temer dined with U.S. President Donald Trump.

At the UNGA, Brazilian President Michel Temer declared that Brazil was carrying out a series of reforms to make the country more “open” to the world, and that it is  on track to achieve fiscal responsibility and launch a vibrant phase of economic growth.

President Temer emphasized that Brazil was proud to govern over the largest rainforest in the world, and reported that in the last year deforestation had dropped by twenty percent. His statement came after many environmental advocacy groups accused the government of trying to destroy forest reserves through his executive order to open up the RENCA National Reserve to mining.

• Porto Alegre’s liberal daily Zero Hora noted the Brazilian president’s support for a treaty banning all nuclear weapons. Temer reminded the General Assembly that Brazil’s authoritative stance stemmed from its own mastery over nuclear technology and decision to forego nuclear weapons. He argued that North Korea’s recent nuclear weapon tests represent a grave threat to world peace, and urged the international community to define a peaceful resolution to the stand-off. President Temer pointed to Venezuela’s current crisis and highlighted how Brazil was responding by welcoming the recent inflow of immigrants and refugees.
• The left-leaning Carta Capital focused reporting on Brazil’s signing of the Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons. The treaty was drafted during the past year with Brazil, South Africa, Austria, Ireland, Mexico and Nigeria leading the way. The magazine reports that 42 member-states signed the treaty on September 20, with 50 needed to enact the treaty. The report emphasized that the treaty has taken on greater importance given the recent North Korean nuclear tests and stand-off with the US.
• Laura Carvalho of the Folha de São Paulo questioned Temer’s appearance at the U.N. General Assembly and concluded that he had lowered Brazil’s credibility, especially after announcing a drop in Amazonian deforestation. She reported that Temer’s claim of a 20 percent fall was not fully backed up by data provided by the Brazilian government’s own National Institute for Space Research (INPE). She cited that Temer’s claim and credibility are also undermined by Norway’s decision to withdraw funding from the Brazil Fund and the government’s own actions that undermine efforts to preserve the Amazon. She noted the repeated allegations of corruption surrounding the president and his government as other factors that undermine Brazil’s credibility.

RPI acknowledges support from the MacArthur Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York for its activities.