[asia-apec 1551] Move UN out of US, says Manila Times pundit

[BAYAN]

MOVE UN OUT OF US
by Herman Tiu Laurel , The Manila Times,  Sept. 8, 2000
<http://www.manilatimes.net/2000/sep/08/opinion/20000908opi4.html>http://ww
w.manilatimes.net/2000/sep/08/opinion/20000908opi4.html



The UN Millennium Summit is bringing over 150 leaders from countries of every
political and ideological persuasion to attend the summit being held now in
the
UN headquarters. It is a rare opportunity for all of the world to be
represented at one place to talk about the common concerns of man. But because
the UN headquarters is located in the US, one delegation which had already
flown halfway to New York suddenly turned back and went home. 

North Korean parliament head Kim Yong-Nam, angrily returned to Pyongyang on
Sept. 5 in protest of body searches demanded by American Airlines security
staff at Frankfurt, Germany, using the excuse that North Korea is on the US
State Department terrorist nation list. But others, like Fidel Castro, have
had
no problems. North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon told a Frankfurt
press conference that the US “had forced Pyongyang to cancel its UN
participation when US security officials opened suitcases and hand-bags
forced
them to take off clothes and shoes, and thoroughly searched even the sensitive
parts of the body as if they were criminals.” 

One news analyst describes this incident as, “
a diplomatic version of the US
bombing of China’s Belgrade embassy.” The implication is that it was an
attempt
at scuttling the North-South Korea dialogue and disrupting the Asian-initiated
peace process in the Korean peninsula. The North Korean delegation cancelled
their trip to the Millennium Summit and along with it meetings North Korean
President Kim was to have had with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung,
President Clinton, Russian President Putin, and Japanese Prime Minister Mori,
as well as North Korea’s first-ever speech to the UN. 

My favorite news agency, EIRNS reports official North Korean reaction,
“This is
an unbearable mockery of the sovereignty of an independent state and a grave
challenge to the United Nations and the summit organized by it.” The US White
House responded courtesy of spokesman Joe Lockhart, “It’s certainly an
unfortunate incident that we regret
 a combination of unfamiliarity with our
procedures
 and some unfamiliarity on the part there of the delegation coming
through.” But Lockhart, however, insisted that the US has no intention of
apologizing. Then whose fault was the unfamiliarity with procedures or with
the
delegation coming through? 

Should there be an apology? Even South Korean newspapers have called on the US
to apologize, as the Korean Times editorial said, “One thing is clear: the
incident could have been prevented. The Washington government should have paid
undivided attention to Kim Yong-Nam’s trip to New York, as it was supposed to
be the first-ever visit of a North Korean leader to the former enemy nation.
Whatever reasons may be, Washington owes an apology to the North Korean
government
 It is obvious that the worsening bilateral relationship is not in
the best interest of not only the two countries but also Seoul and other
related nations.” 

Here’s the reaction of an Asia hand, Chalmers Johnson, to the incident, “This
is clearly an operation done by the State Department and the FBI to ensure
that
the North Koreans did not come to the UN and give their speech to tell the
American public that peace is breaking out in Korea, so please change your
policy towards us
 It sends the message that the Pentagon has no interest in
the end of the Cold War in Asia
 who would agree to being strip-searched in an
international airport? As if they don’t know who Kim Yong-Nam is. He’s the
architect of their whole peace policy, he’s the architect of the whole June
Inter-Korean Summit.” 

An apology from the US would quickly dissolve the hardening angry feelings
over
the incident, but it refuses to do so. Why? Is it a deliberate psychological
sabotage of the peace process in the Korean peninsula, as Chalmers Johnson
believes, or is it just plain superpower arrogance? The haughty attitude of a
rogue superpower? Whatever the real reason, which we hope the Americans will
reveal in time, the whole incident raises a question in my mind. 

Why is the United Nations headquarters located in the United States and not in
some neutral country? Why is the UN located in the most controversial country
in the world and accused of some of the worst international and diplomatic
evils? And it is a country that is perennially delinquent in paying its
official dues to the international organization. It is time to consider
seriously moving the UN out of New York, USA, to some fair and neutral state
free of any suspicion of political self-interest and conducting intrigues
while
hosting the international forum.

My e-mail: htlfam at pacific.net.ph


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
	 B A Y A N
	 Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or New Patriotic Alliance
	 No. 23 Maamo Street, Sikatuna Village
	 Quezon City, PHILIPPINES							      	
	 Telephone: (63-2) 435-9151       Telefax: (63-2) 922-5211
	 Email:   <bayan at iname.com>
	 Webpage: http://www.bigfoot.com/~bayan-phils 	      	
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------