2024-08-02 09:25:39
2nd day, joining ceremony at Pyeongtaek US military base, attended by German Defense Minister and ROK-US military command
In 2019, the Moon administration failed to join, and the Yoon administration shifted to expanding the UN’s role.
Germany, a country that provided medical support during the Korean War, joined the United Nations Command on the 2nd as the 18th member state.
The UNC announced that it held a ceremony commemorating the accession of South Korea, the US, and Germany to the UNC at the Camp Humphreys US military base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province on this day. The UNC was established under the leadership of the US to defend South Korea from communist invasion during the Korean War. It operates a UNC rear base (US military base in Japan) in preparation for an emergency on the Korean Peninsula, and carries out the mission of sending reinforcements from member countries to the Korean Peninsula without a separate UN resolution in the event of a full-scale invasion by North Korea.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who attended the event, said in his commemorative speech, “We all believe in the ‘power of law,’ not the ‘law of the power,’” and “Germany’s joining the UN will greatly contribute to stability on the Korean Peninsula.”
Paul Ruckermer, Commander of the United Nations Command (Commander of the U.S. Forces Korea), evaluated Germany’s joining of the UNC as an important step forward in strengthening international security cooperation, and emphasized, “Starting today, we will work together to realize the vision for a peaceful and stable Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia, and the Indo-Pacific.”
During the Korean War, West Germany was not a member of the UN, but proposed to the UN to dispatch medical personnel to the Korean Peninsula. After the armistice agreement was signed, from May 1954 to March 1959, a field hospital with a capacity of 200 people and 117 medical personnel (total number of people) were dispatched to Korea. The Busan German Red Cross Hospital they established treated nearly 300,000 UN soldiers and civilian patients over a period of five years. It also played a role in training Korean doctors and nurses and passing on medical technology.
However, because Germany’s support was provided after the armistice agreement, it was not included in the list of ‘Korean War Medical Support Countries’ until it was additionally designated in June 2018, 64 years after its dispatch. After six years, it officially joined the UNC as a member state.
Germany’s attempt to join the UN was also attempted in 2019 by the Moon Jae-in administration, but was thwarted by the government at the time, which opposed it, claiming it was a “violation of sovereignty.”
However, the Yoon Seok-yeol government has changed its tone to one that emphasizes the role of the UN Command. The analysis is that the background is the judgment that the UN Command is playing an important role in suppressing and blocking North Korea’s invasion.
The first ‘ROK-UN Defense Ministers’ Meeting’ held in November last year with the participation of defense ministers and representatives from ROK and UN member states is cited as a good example of this trend.
In addition, President Yoon met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as the first negotiator during his visit to Washington, D.C. last month to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, and expressed his position that “we welcome Germany’s application to join the United Nations Command (UNC).”
A Ministry of National Defense official explained, “There were procedural issues (with Germany’s accession during the Moon Jae-in administration), but this time, we went through all the necessary procedures.”
Pyeongtaek = Ministry of National Defense Joint Press Corps / Military Reporter Sangho Yoon [email protected]
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2024-08-02 09:25:39