SECRETARY-GENERAL AND PRESIDENT KIM CONFER ON KOREAN PENINSULA

Press Release
SG/T/2040

SECRETARY-GENERAL AND PRESIDENT KIM CONFER ON KOREAN PENINSULA

SEOUL, 29 March -- Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali conferred at length today with the President of the Republic of Korea, Kim Young Sam, on the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

President Kim received the Secretary-General, on a five-day mission to the Republic of Korea, at Chong Wa Dae or Blue House, and told him that there were currently 1.7 million armed forces, an unprecedented number, confronting each other on the Peninsula.

The Secretary-General said he regretted that he was not able to visit Pyongyang on this trip to Asia in order to pursue the dialogue begun before the death of North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung.

The Secretary-General said the United Nations was ready to offer its services if the two parties agreed. In particular, he said the United Nations was ready to assist rapprochement through the implementation of projects that wold encourage dialogue -- such as the Tumen Area Development Programme, which involves major investment in rail, road and port infrastructures in the region.

The two leaders also discussed the global dimensions of terrorism and the growing links between terrorists and international narcotics traffickers.

They conferred on United Nations efforts towards a comprehensive ban on anti-personnel land-mines which littered the world in the tens of millions. President Kim said that 40 years after the end of the Korean conflict, buried land-mines still explode form time to time.

The Secretary-General agreed that land-mines remained a major burden long after hostilities had ceased. Children lost limbs to land-mines every day, he said, and people were unable to cultivate their fields because of the hidden killers.

Later, in a luncheon toast, the Secretary-General thanked the Republic of Korea for its contribution to peace-keeping efforts in Somalia, Angola, Georgia and along the border between India and Pakistan.

- 2 - Press Release SG/T/2040 1 April 1996

He said the Republic of Korea, currently on the Security Council, "is demonstrating its commitment to the international community in every major field -- political, social, economic and security concerns. All feel the benefit of an active Korean presence".

"In all these ways, the Republic of Korea is making significant contributions to the international community", he said. "Some are highly visible and recognized, others are quite and unpublicized -- but all are invaluable. All have placed the Republic of Korea in the network of international cooperation necessary today for global peace, security and prosperity."

"A reunified Korea will have an even greater impact on the world", the Secretary-General said. "It is my hope that one day the two Korean States will be represented in the United Nations as one."

In his toast, President Kim said "the industrialization and democratization that the Republic has achieved are the fruits of the ideals of the United Nations".

He praised the Secretary-General's efforts to reform the United Nations and expressed the deep respect of the Korean people for his achievement.

President Kim said that "stability in Northeast Asia, which is drawing worldwide attention right now, is the most urgent task in support of world peace and the common prosperity of humankind". He said he hoped the Secretary-General would continue to show "concern and support" for peace and the reunification of the Korean Peninsula.

Friday evening, the Secretary-General was honoured at Kyung Hee University where he received the Great World Peace Award from the Oughtopia Peace Foundation. The prize was awarded by Young-Seek Choue, Chancellor of Kyung Hee University and Chairman of the Oughtopia Peace Foundation.

The Secretary-General was the first ever recipient of the award which recognizes "great achievements in the promotion of world peace, security and the betterment of human welfare".

Mr. Choue said the Secretary-General had been chosen because of his "great contribution to world peace ... and especially for his selfless efforts in easing the tension in Korean Peninsula".

The prize includes a grant of $30,000. The Secretary-General said a portion of the grant would go to an orphanage in the Republic of Korea and the rest wold be distributed to other humanitarian projects.

Saturday, the Secretary-General meets with Foreign Minister Ro- Myung Gong. * *** *