DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by informing correspondents that the Secretary-General had appointed Choi Young-Jin, a national of the Republic of Korea, as Assistant Secretary- General in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. In that position, Mr. Choi would succeed Lieutenant-General Manfred Eisele (Germany), who retired on 28 February after more than three years of outstanding service with the United Nations.

Since July 1995, Choi Young-Jin had served as Deputy Executive Director of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization in New York City, Mr. Eckhard said. From 1994 to 1995, he was Director-General of the International Economic Affairs Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. Prior to that, he was First Senior Coordinator in the Policy Planning Office of that Ministry.

Mr. Eckhard told correspondents that Mr. Choi was primarily a person with a lot of administrative experience. He reminded them that the Peacekeeping Department had two Assistant Secretaries and that Mr. Choi was the logistics person, who would handle deployment, supply and organization. A statement which had more biographical information on Mr. Choi was available in room 378.

At the time of the briefing the Security Council was meeting in closed session to discuss Western Sahara, Mr. Eckhard said. It was understood that a draft resolution had been introduced in the morning and it was believed that the Council would return to it on Friday. If consensus was reached on the text, the Council could it adopt it that day. The current mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara would expire on 20 April. Under other matters, the Council would be taking up Sierra Leone.

There was anticipation yesterday that Under-Secretary-General Jayantha Dhanapala's report would have come out, but that had been unfounded, Mr. Eckhard said. The report was still with the Secretary-General this morning and the Spokesman's Office could not say when it would come out, but it was expected by the end of the week.

The Executive Chairman of the Special Commission on the disarmament of Iraq, Richard Butler, had returned and was in Headquarters this morning, Mr. Eckhard said. It was understood that he was expected to complete his biannual report to the Security Council today.

The flag-raising ceremony officially inaugurating the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA) took place at 10 a.m. local time in Bangui as announced yesterday, the Spokesman said. The MINURCA was taking over from the Inter-African Mission to Monitor the Implementation of

the Bangui Agreements (MISAB), with a three-month mandate to assist in maintaining security, to monitor the final disposition of weapons from the disarmament exercise and to provide support for the legislative elections scheduled for August/September of this year. A press release on the hand-over was available in the Spokesman's office in French only.

The MINURCA was the forty-seventh peacekeeping mission since the United Nations began such operations 50 years ago, Mr. Eckhard went on to say. Details of the events and special publications to mark the half-century anniversary were available in an information note issued this morning by the Peace and Security Section of the Department of Public Information. That note was also available in the Spokesman's office.

The Spokesman said the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva decided yesterday afternoon to conclude its consideration of the situation in Guatemala, 19 years after it first took it up and following the signing of peace agreements between the Government and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Gualtemalteca (URNG).

The Philippines this morning became the eleventh country to sign the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Mr. Eckhard told correspondents. That Protocol contained legally binding targets for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Conveying an announcement on behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA), Mr. Eckhard said that Imran Khan, a well-known sportsman in the world of cricket, founder of a free cancer hospital and Chief of the Justice Movement Party of Pakistan, would address correspondents at 1:30 p.m. today in the UNCA Club. Sandwiches and refreshment would be served.

How many members of the Mission in the Central African Republic had been deployed? a correspondent asked. Were all in place as yet? Sophie Sebirot- Nossof said there were approximately 1,000 troops there and some other troops would arrive in that country in the near future -- before the end of this week. Mr. Eckhard said that Ms. Sebirot-Nossof had worked in the Spokesman's office for 11 months and was now working in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Citing a wire story yesterday reporting the death by starvation of 3 million people over the past 33 months in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, a correspondent asked if the United Nations did not have to issue the kind of mea culpa it had done after the genocides in Rwanda and Cambodia, and whether the Secretary-General would consider any extraordinary measures to address that situation beyond the usual appeals.

In response, the Spokesman asked why the Organization had to issue a mea culpa. The World Food Programme (WFP) had been taking the lead in providing

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 15 April 1998

food assistance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It was a country for which it was quite difficult to ascertain exactly what the situation was inside.

The professionals who were trying to deal with the humanitarian situation there had differing opinions among themselves about the severity of the situation in the country, Mr. Eckhard went on to say. He did not think, however, that anyone knew for sure. Certainly 3 million victims was shocking, but was it true? And what more could the United Nations be expected to do?

The Spokesman said the WFP had a limited number of offices in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Those offices were trying to coordinate the distribution of food and certainly it was hoped that the international response could be adequate for the need, but none could say what the actual need was.

Still on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the correspondent said that the General Assembly and the Security Council had met on far less important matters than the possible death of millions. He asked whether the Organization should not be galvanized out if its usual response in such an extraordinary case.

The Spokesman said the correspondent was personally calling for humanitarian intervention and that the United Nations had provided Member States with whatever information it could gather. It was really up to them to decide how to respond. At the moment, everyone was trying to put as much humanitarian assistance into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as could be mustered and effectively delivered.

Asked whether the Security Council's discussion on Sierra Leone today had anything to do with the fighting there, Yasuhiro Ueki of the Spokesman's Office said the discussion had concerned the proposed military liaison officers to be sent by the United Nations to Sierra Leone to monitor the situation in that country; they had nothing to do with the fighting. Mr. Eckhard said Mr. Ueki handled peacekeeping issues in the Spokesman's office.

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