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South Korea to hold rotating presidency of UN Security Council this month

Published: 01 Sep. 2025, 11:06

General view of a United Nations Security Council emergency meeting in New York on June 22, one day after U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. [AFP/YONHAP]

South Korea will undertake the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council (UNSC) this month for the first time in 15 months, officials said Monday.

South Korea will officially begin its presidency Tuesday (New York time), according to the UN headquarters, with Seoul expected to use the chair to help set the council's agenda and shape discussions on key global issues, including the Israel-Palestine conflict and the war in Ukraine.

As the post of South Korea's permanent representative to the United Nations is currently vacant, Deputy Ambassador Kim Sang-jin will likely preside over major meetings.

Seoul plans to hold a high-level open debate on artificial intelligence as its signature event, according to a Security Council Report report, amid evolving North Korean threats in the security domain.

South Korea, which began a two-year term as a nonpermanent member of the Security Council last year, last assumed the presidency in June last year at a time of heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula.

The UNSC presidency rotates among the council's 15 member states on a monthly basis and is determined by the English alphabetical order of the member states' names.

This marks South Korea's fifth time holding the presidency since it joined the UN in 1991.

Yonhap