President Kim Jung-bae,
Mr. Gould, the Nobel Laureate,
Mr. Spanovitch, Executive Director of the Wholistic Peace Institute,
Distinguished participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,


I would first like to thank President Kim Jung-bae and the Academy of Korean Studies for their kind invitation to address the 4th Global Forum on Civilization and Peace which is held on the theme of “Peace with Environment and Ecology.” At this moment a number of people on our planet are suffering from natural disasters. As the environment and ecological system becomes more important than ever before, it is truly timely and meaningful to have this opportunity to listen to distinguished scholars and leaders on this matter.

The disastrous earthquake in Southwest China and the cyclone in Myanmar recently called for the international community to revisit the importance of the environment and ecological life. Reportedly, the earthquake in Sichuan, China, claimed almost 70,000 lives with several hundred thousands people severely injured as well as 15 million people dislocated, with an economic loss amounting to some 22 billion US dollars.

In Myanmar, according to an updated official death toll, as many as 77,000 people have been killed with 55,000 still missing. Even worse, these natural disasters are followed by epidemics. People all over the globe express profound concern and sympathy for the victim’s loss and pain. Along with the international community, the Korean government is firmly committed to providing assistance for relief and rehabilitation of the afflicted by those disasters.

Now is time for us to think about what has caused such disastrous catastrophes. Climate change is referred to as the main cause of the recent destructive cyclones. Some experts even suggest that the earthquake in Sichuan province in China could be attributed to environmental and ecological change which has been brought about by large-scale development projects in the region. These all indicate potential harm that human activities lacking consideration on the environment and ecology may bring on human lives themselves.

The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published last year warns us that water shortage resulting from global warming could threat about 400 million people by 2020 and the drops in yield combined with rising populations could put close to 50 million extra people at risk of hunger by 2020 and 266 million by 2080.

As the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has mentioned, these ecological crisis, arising at least in part from global climate change, are likely to trigger more ethnic conflicts such as the ongoing Darfur crisis in Sudan.

We are, therefore, at the moment of decision on what to do in order to address the challenge of climate change, which needs to be dealt with by the international community as a whole. According to the Stern Report in 2006, if no immediate action is taken, unabated climate change could cost the world at least 5% of the global GDP each year and the global warming will lead to a catastrophe threatening the whole survival of humankind on our planet.

Indeed, in the 16th meeting of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development held in New York in May, participants shared the view that many developing countries in Africa and the small island developing states (SIDS) are now facing serious problems in food and energy supply. And still majority of people in the world remain without safe drinking water and have no access to basic sanitation. To cope with all these issues, therefore, the international community must show its strong commitment to making all-out, multi-dimensional efforts to pursue sustainable land use, innovative agriculture, poverty reduction, and prevention of drought and desertification.

Korea is also confronting environmental and ecological problems including yellow sand dust blown from China and endangered indigenous species that face extinction due to the influx of foreign species. These problems can not be solved by any single nation’s efforts; the international community must share common concerns and take concerted actions to resolve the ecological imbalance.

In this context, Korean government has been involved in working on international activities as well as domestic ones in order to contribute to the environmental and ecological improvement; the Korean government will host the 10th Conference of the Parties to Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in Changwon this year and we also are involved with many international agreements on environment and the scale and quantity of our activities will be extended further. The Korean government is committed to the idea of sustainable development for our future generation home and abroad.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Before summoned back to Seoul in public service and appointed as Prime Minister of the Lee Myung-bak administration, I traveled the globe in my capacity as UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, a Member of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB), Chairman of the UN High-Level Expert Panel on Water and Disaster and President of Korean Water Forum.

These experiences taught me a priceless lesson that the challenges facing our environment and ecological system are not just limited to biological or material spheres but could have huge repercussions on various social and economic sectors.

As Prime Minister of Korea, I will continue to be concerned with addressing environmental and ecological issues in a variety of fields as I did when I worked on behalf the United Nations. I would like to call for related international organizations to take more positive actions.

Korea can be the focus of international attention in the perspective of sustainable development, universal humanity and the peaceful life through coexistence of humankind and nature. First, Korean peninsula, with two countries of the same people with diametrically different ideologies, has been in a unique position in terms of politics, geography and military affairs. And this resulted in the formation of unique geographical and ecological area called DMZ.

Since DMZ has been protected from the access of the people over half century for a military purpose, affluent natural resources could make huge progress in it; untouched six rivers, vast field, over 970 species of plants, 35 species of mammalian, and 64 species of fish which could not be seen in any other places in the world.

Secondly, during the 1950s Korea has undergone industrial development in unprecedented pace which no other countries have ever matched. In that process, we also experienced adverse effect of rapid industrial development such as environmental degradation and pollution. But with rising public awareness of importance of the environment, more individuals and civic groups vest their time and efforts in restoring and sustaining the healthy environment. Also, the Korean government has been actively pursuing various projects for restoration of Chonggye stream, ecological restitution of Bakdu Mountains, launching of the Strategic Environmental Assessment System, assistance for the Greenbelt project in Mongolia and aid for the improvement of water quality in developing countries like Egypt and Indonesia.

With international recognition of our efforts for the environment, Korea won the bid to host the 2012 Expo in Yeosu, coastal city in southern Korea with the theme of ‘the Living Ocean and Coast.’ I am confident that the 2012 Yeosu Expo will provide a splendid opportunity to demonstrate to the world how the harmonious coexistence of humankind and nature can exert a positive influence on sustainable development.

Finally, Korea is one of the few countries which achieved rapid democratization along with its fast economic growth.

Despite the disagreement on the possibility of simultaneous achievement of democracy and economic growth in the developing countries, Korea clearly showed that economic development and democratization can be pursued at the same time.

The Korean government declares pragmatism of ‘small but effective government’ as its governance slogan in the pursuit of an “advanced, top-notch nation.” The main goal of the Lee Myung-bak administration is to encourage private sectors to go for more, proactive market activities, which lays the foundation for the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) frequently discussed in the international fora of environmental and ecological issues. The Korean government is firmly committed to offering full support to build a collaborative partnership bridging domestic and international actors for environmental protection.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Lee Myung-bak administration, in accordance with its vision of ‘Strengthening Korea’s Competitiveness through Harmony between Economy and Environment,’ pursues following three comprehensive goals: fostering climate industry as a new engine of growth, creating an energy-efficient, low-carbon, and resource-circulating society and, finally, exercising global leadership in addressing the international environmental issues.

Now Korea, with its long history and rich cultural heritages, will continue to move forward to reestablish itself as a dynamic knowledge-based economy.

Given that Korea has long been placed in a unique geological, political and military situation, it is very meaningful for the government and people of Korea to have this global platform of dialogue hosted here in Seoul. The Korean government assures of its unsparing support for a continuous dialogue for the world peace.

Ladies and gentlemen,

‘The Global Forum on Civilization and Peace’ has invited world renowned thinkers and distinguished scholars and provided an opportunity to exchange views and share their wisdom on the world peace. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to distinguished participants for their valuable contributions to fostering the spirit of humanism and of the times.

Once again, I extend my warmest congratulations to you on the 4th Global Forum on Civilization and Peace and 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Academy of Korean Studies. I have no doubt that this important event will be a great success, contributing to the peace building by the international community as well as the intellectual enrichment of Korean society.

Thank you.