South Korea has been elected a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for a second time.

At UN headquarters in New York on Thursday, 193 member states voted on selecting nonpermanent members for the Security Council. South Korea garnered a total of 149 votes in the second round of balloting, securing a two-year term as a nonpermanent member.

South Korea served a term as a nonpermanent UNSC member in 1996.

The UNSC has five permanent members, including the U.S. and China, and ten nonpermanent members. The nonpermanent memberships are distributed by continents.

The Security Council serves as the highest decision-making body of the UN.

South Korea’s seat in the UN body is significant as it comes amid a time when security in Northeast Asia is rapidly changing. As a member, South Korea will be able to actively take part in UN discussions regarding the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea’s nuclear issue.