UNITED
NATIONS
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
News and Highlights from the President
H.
E. Dr. Han Seung-soo was elected President of the 56th Session of General
Assembly
12 September,
2001
The first plenary meeting of the General Assembly was held after a one-day postponement and elected H. E. Dr. Han Seung-soo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea as President of the 56th Session of the General Assembly.
In the morning before his election as president, Dr. Han Seung-soo met with the Secretary-General and the President of the 55th Session, Mr. Harri Holkeri and discussed how the United Nations could deal with international terrorism.
Later in the afternoon, Dr. Han held a press conference with correspondents of the United Nations. During the conference, Dr. Han emphasized that there were many important agenda items waiting to be addressed by the 56th Session of the General Assembly such as elimination of terrorism, improving peacekeeping operations and furthering economic and social development, particularly in Africa, by supporting the implementation of the New African Initiative promoting democracy, human rights and implementing the Millennium Declaration. He also underlined that globalisation should be managed in such a way that it would benefit all the world’s peoples by bridging the digital gap. Answering a question on economic development in Africa, Dr. Han emphasized that he, himself was an economist by training and takes a special interest in the economic development of poor nations.
Dr. Han met with the
President of the Security Council, the Permanent Representative of France,
Mr. Jean-David Levitte, and they discussed various issues relating to
the maintenance of peace and security and agreed to hold regular consultations.
Full text of the Press
Conference