1 of 5 | South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol warned Tuesday that global freedom and peace are in "jeopardy" in an address before the United Nations General Assembly. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
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Sept. 20 (UPI) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called on the international community to uphold "universal global norms" as he warned that freedom and peace are in "jeopardy" in an address before the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday.
During his remarks from the in-person gathering in New York City, Yoon warned that attempts to "alter the status quo by force, nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and systemic violations of human rights" are threatening the global community.
"Such threats to freedom and peace must be overcome through solidarity and fearless commitment to the framework of universal global norms consolidated over the years within the United Nations system," he said.
Yoon did not mention any specific nation in his remarks but last week South Korean defense officials warned that North Korea's new law establishing the right to use preemptive nuclear strikes would set Pyongyang on a "path of self-destruction."
He said that Seoul must expand its security cooperation with the United States and Japan as North Korea's nuclear threat intensifies, in an interview with The New York Times published Sunday.
"When freedom of any individual in a nation comes under threat, members of the community must join hands to remove the threat and defend freedom," Yoon said Tuesday. "Likewise when freedom of any citizen or nation in the global community is in peril it is the community of nations that must stand together in solidarity to defend that freedom."
He added that the United Nations' role in helping humanity's efforts to defend freedom and peace are "indispensable" while adding that "genuine freedom and peace can turn into reality when we are free from disease and hunger, free from illiteracy and free from want of energy and culture."
"Genuine freedom is not just being free from the shackles but having opportunities to live life to the fullest with dignity," Yoon said. "Genuine peace is not an absence of war, but removing conflict and enmity that hold back shared progress of humanity and building the foundation for greater prosperity of humanity."
