In 1991 South Korea, along with North Korea, was made an official member of the UN. Using international relations theory, this book begins by looking at the struggle and eventual impact of the membership on the two countries post division in 1948. It investigates the predicted outcomes prior to joining, and whether these outcomes have come to fruition nationally and on a global scale. Following this, there is focus on South Korea's ability to exert an influence on international decision making in world-politics, and how this affected inter-Korean relations. Importantly, analysis looks at how participation in the Security Council (1996–1997 and 2013–2014) further extended the country's capabilities to adopt resolutions, including those affecting North Korea's missile and nuclear programmes and human rights record. South Korea's participation in peacekeeping operations, Koreans appointed to high positions within the UN system and payments of the UN budget are also investigated. The study concludes with discussion of the role of the UN as a forum for international contacts and for providing knowledge otherwise unavailable to non-members. South Korea in the United Nations is unique in its analysis of South Korea's relations with the UN prior to and, above all, after 1991, thereby enhancing understanding of the significance of its UN membership as well as the importance of being a UN member. Suitable for scholars in Korean studies, international relations and East Asian politics, it can also be used as a reference work by policy-makers in the region, and for students and professionals working within the UN system.

When in 1950 the United Nations called upon its members to provide aid to South Korea, more than forty nations responded. Some of these sent troops which fought under the United Nations Command, some sent commodities and medical supplies. Some nations offered moral and political support but for a variety of reasons were not able to send aid. This book looks at the nations involved, what was behind their willingness to provide troops or aid, or what prevented them from doing so. The military contribution of the nations involved is discussed. The combination of troops, and their individual needs, made the logistics of this enterprise difficult, but in the end troops from 17 nations fought together to defend the freedom of South Korea.

This book deals with the political and legal issues of the Korean question in the United Nations. This is the first in-depth analysis of the meaning and effects of the Korean problem in UN politics. The book discusses the UN's role in the management of the Korean problem, the effects of the Korean war, South-North Korea's rivalry over the issues of their legitimacy and international representation, the problems of the Korean armistice agreement, and prospects for the four-party peace talks. It also examines North Korea's nuclear program and structural famine as the new concerns of the international community in the post Cold-War era. This study is intended as one of the important readings for researchers, scholars and students in the fields of international law, international organizations and international relations.

This book deals with the political and legal issues of the Korean question in the United Nations. This is the first in-depth analysis of the meaning and effects of the Korean problem in UN politics. The book discusses the UN's role in the management of the Korean problem, the effects of the Korean war, South-North Korea's rivalry over the issues of their legitimacy and international representation, the problems of the Korean armistice agreement, and prospects for the four-party peace talks. It also examines North Korea's nuclear program and structural famine as the new concerns of the international community in the post Cold-War era. This study is intended as one of the important readings for researchers, scholars and students in the fields of international law, international organizations and international relations.

Where there has been fighting or the threat of fighting since the end of the Second World War, the United Nations has ahnost al ways been involved. Frequently that involvement has taken the concrete form of a field commission or a team of observers, made up of nationals of several countries and reporting to the General Assembly or the Security Council. Even while I write this, military observers wearing special United Nations insignia are patrolling the border areas of Syria and Lebanon. Meanwhile, observation groups with a longer history are on duty in Kashmir and along the Israeli borders. A field commission of the United Nations still remains in Korea, and others had been at work in Greece, Eritrea, Somalia and on the Hungarian border. All of them lived, worked and reported in an atmosphere of controversy. Perhaps none could have claimed that their work ended in full success. Their existence, however, suggests that the United Nations has developed a special political instrument for use in troubled areas where solutions are elusive but where danger of a spreading con flict is never distant. This study deals with the work of field com missions of the United Nations in Korea before the violence of 1950. Their work, whatever its merit, came crashing down with the North Korean attack.