On the 29th March, a press conference held at the main gate of the National Assembly in Yeouido, calling for a Multilateral Cooperation Summit
Emphasizing on he need for multilateral cooperation to resolve various factors of international conflicts
According to he Organization’s officials, “Korea’s diplomatic strategies shall be made by pursuing strategic values”
The International Multilateral Diplomacy Council (Chairman Lee Chang-ho, the Council) held a press conference at the main gate of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, at 02: 00 PM on March 29th, 2023, calling for the transformation of the Summit among the democratic nations into a multilateral cooperation one.
Moderated by Professor Kim Moon-jun of Kongju National University, key figures such as Lee Chang-ho, chairman of the Council, Kim Pil-yong, the president of the Korea Journalists Association, Lee Dong-ki, the director of the Korea Policy Capacity Development Institute, Shin Bong-hee, a professor of Seoul Social Welfare Graduate School, etc. participated in the press conference, and it was conducted by reading the press conference manifesto and Q&A in order.
The Council emphasized that, in the second Democratic Summit (video conference) be co-hosted by Korea, the United States, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, and Zambia on March 29th and 30th, Korea should make efforts to shift the summit to a multilateral one through preemptive agenda proposals on various international issues where fairness and freedom can be shared by re-creating future values, not showing off superior power through specific ideologies.
At the time of the 1st Democracy Summit held in December 2021 led by US President Biden, 111 countries and regions participated and discussions on agendas such as anti-authoritarianism, anti-corruption, and promotion of human rights to prevent the retreat of shareholders and further develop them under the three agendas of ‘defense against authoritarianism’, ‘fight against corruption’, and ‘promote respect for human rights’ and yet, the council argues that criticism of China was highlighted and sparked a controversy.
In response, China strongly protested by holding armed demonstrations around Taiwan, saying that the summit, which only promoted invitation to Taiwan and democracy, was ‘an act of inciting division in the international community amid Cold War thinking.’ Similar to the first summit, resistance from China and Russia is expected at the 2nd Democracy Summit, and Taiwan's participation, which the United States strongly supports, is also criticized for making the Democracy Summit divide 'democratic versus non-democratic', and forcing a choice between the U.S. and China from various sectors.
A senior council official said, “The Korean diplomatic strategy needs to be approached through more strategic value pursuit at the U.S.-centered democratic summit. “In the international diplomatic environment where we have no choice but to attend the US-centered democracy summit, we need to emphasize the necessity of shifting to a multilateral summit that seeks the international common good beyond the democracy summit.”
Kim Moon-joon, a professor at Kongju National University, said, “The recent intensifying war between Ukraine and Russia and the conflict between the US and China are causing serious problems in realizing common values for common human values.” and “There is a need for a transition to a multilateral summit to resolve dichotomous ideological movements (democracy & agriculture) and to address various international conflict factors.
And Mr. Lee Gi-soo, the former president of Korea University, said, “The world must never be divided into two with the biased standard of ‘democracy.’ It is not in line with the original purpose of democratic values to impose the doctrinal ideology of democratic values in the post-ideological international community after 1900 and to generalize the promotion of ideological conflict to the international community again.”
In addition, the council urged strongly to change the multilateral summit to resolve various international conflicts rather than to enhance the influence of a specific country, to pursue the international common good beyond the democratic summit in an international multilateral diplomatic environment, to avoid international diplomatic strategies packaged solely for one's own national interests, and to re-establish newly pressures against North Korea excluding China and Russia in order to advance economic security in Northeast Asia.
And the International Multilateral Diplomacy Council is an international non-governmental diplomatic organization consisting of more than organizations and countries, discussing continuous consultations, deliberations, and decision-making on ways to cooperate on specific agendas. Through activities centered on experts from all walks of life, the council is carrying out various activities intending to form a national consensus and establish a consensus for multilateral civic education and true peace on the Korean Peninsula, both domestically and internationally.