Park plans busy 4 days at UN events in New York

President Park Geun-hye will visit New York next week to attend United Nations events, the Blue House said Wednesday.

Park will leave on Sept. 25 for a four-day trip, which will include the UN General Assembly and the UN Sustainable Development Summit.

She will give a speech at the UN General Assembly on Sept. 28. On the same day, Park will attend a separate summit on United Nations peacekeeping operations jointly hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

“Many world leaders are attending this UN General Assembly and Park will declare Korea’s stances about and intention to contribute to major global issues regarding peace, security, development and climate change,” the Blue House said.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the United Nations, and leaders of 160 countries from around the world, including Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will attend the events.

Park will also promote Korea’s peaceful unification policy and key foreign policies to win the understanding and support of the international community, the Blue House said. Park’s trip comes at a sensitive time as North Korea hinted it may test a long-range missile in the coming weeks. A fourth nuclear test is also feared. Her UN diplomacy is expected to focus on security issues, particularly preventing further provocations by the North. This month, Park has used summits with Xi and European Council President Donald Tusk to condemn Pyongyang’s brinkmanship.

On Sept. 26, Park will give an address at the UN Sustainable Development Summit. She will also attend other events on the sidelines of the summit, including the high-level Saemaul Movement conference hosted by the Korean government, the UN Development Program and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Saemaul Movement was an initiative to modernize the rural economy of Korea. It was launched in 1970 by Korean President Park Chung Hee, the father of President Park.

On Sept. 27, Park will jointly host a dialogue with President Michelle Bachelet of Chile as a part of the development summit.

BY SER MYO-JA [ser.myoja@joongang.co.kr]