South Korea attempted to join the UN since 1949 but the Soviet Union repeatedly vetoed South Korea’s requests. North Korea also refused admission due to the regime’s unwillingness to abide by the UN Charter and a lack of international support. South Korea proposed to join the UN simultaneously with North Korea through the June 23rd Declaration in 1973 but North Korea rejected this plan, emphasizing the notion of ‘One Korea.’

By the end of 1980s, South Korea enthusiastically engaged the Easter bloc countries to establish diplomatic ties with Communist nations in eastern Europe and pushed to enter the UN. North Korea also changed its mind to at last join the UN together with South Korea in 1991. It was a highly symbolic event that prompted the international community to recognize South and North Korea as separate sovereign states and provided an opportunity for the issues associated with the Korean Peninsula to become global concerns. 

Since joining the UN, South Korea sent peace-keeping troops, became a non-permanent member of the Security Council, and readily engaged in various diplomatic activities. Ban Ki-moon was elected UN Secretary-General in 2006 to boost South Korea’s diplomatic prestige and K-pop group BTS recently delivered a message to young people around the world, giving South Korea another opportunity for Korean culture to gain global attention. Once the recipient of UN aids, South Korea is now actively fulfilling its role as a responsible member of the international community.