Booyoung Group Chairman Lee Joongkeun: “I will build a building in Seoul on a par with UN Headquarters in New York”

[Financial News] Lee Joongkeun, chairman of the UN Association of Korea and Booyoung Group, said, “I propose designating UN Day as a national holiday to give future generations an opportunity to improve diplomatic relations with the 60 countries that fought alongside the UN.”
At the 81st UN Day Commemoration Ceremony held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Seoul on the 23rd, Lee said, “If it is designated a national holiday, I hope to build and donate a building in Seoul on a par with UN Headquarters in New York, attract UN agencies, and create a historic turning point for South Korea to take a leap forward as a central pillar of international peace and prosperity.”
The event, jointly hosted by the UN Association of Korea and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to mark the 81st anniversary of the UN’s founding, was attended by Lee, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, Korean Liberation Association Chairman Lee Jong-chan, Constitutional Association Chairman Chung Dae-chul, Korean Veterans Association Chairman Shin Sang-tae, and other officials. UN Day commemorates October 24, 1945, when the UN was founded and officially began operating with the goal of promoting international peace and security. In South Korea, it was a legal public holiday until 1975, but its status as a public holiday was abolished in 1976. This is the first national-level ceremony in 51 years since UN Day was removed from the public holiday calendar.
In his commemorative address, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said that the dedication of the 22 UN member states that fought in the Korean War and the UN’s postwar assistance played an important role in South Korea’s industrialization and democratization. He also emphasized that, as South Korea marks the 35th anniversary of joining the UN, it has now grown into a country that contributes to the UN’s three pillars: peace and security, development, and human rights. UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Ban Ki-moon, the UN’s eighth secretary-general, also sent video greetings.
Meanwhile, before proposing that UN Day be designated a national holiday, Lee supported the cost of building 23 memorials to the UN member states that fought in the Korean War at Peace Plaza at the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan in 2015, to express gratitude to UN veterans. The 2.7-meter-high memorials feature national symbols and laurel wreaths symbolizing victory, among other designs. Together with the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan, the memorial is one of only two UN Korean War heritage sites in the world.
Related legislation is currently being pursued in the National Assembly. In August last year, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Yang Bu-nam introduced as the lead sponsor a partial amendment to the Act on National Holidays that would designate UN Day, observed every October 24, as a national holiday.
[email protected] Kwon Jun-ho Reporter