OSCE model of co-operative security, confidence-building can serve as inspiration for other regions, says Secretary General, in Korea

SEOUL, 12 November 2013 – OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, in a keynote speech at the 2013 Seoul Defense Dialogue conference today,  outlined key historic milestones of the Organization’s development and its principles, and discussed how the OSCE’s concept of comprehensive, co-operative security could serve as inspiration for other regions of the world, including Northeast Asia.

Kim Kwanjin, Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Korea who opened the high-level conference said that multilateral co-operation in the field of security on the basis of respect, understanding and trust between nations is essential in proactively tackling complicated security threats. Therefore, the Seoul Defense Dialogue is a meaningful forum to build gradual trust through dialogue and co-operation among states in this region, he added.

Lamberto Zannier said that the Republic of Korea is one of the longest-standing Asian Partner countries of the OSCE, and the interaction between the country and the OSCE is rich. “This ongoing sharing of experiences responds to the desire of our Korean partners to gain a better understanding of the OSCE’s model of comprehensive, co-operative security.”

Referring to the Republic of Korea’s concept of a Northeast Asia Peace and Co-operation Initiative, Zannier encouraged the efforts of the country to build trust. “In the case of the OSCE, trust building was one of the essential elements that enabled the participating States to develop and agree to the comprehensive approach to security that made the OSCE unique – one could even say revolutionary – at the time of its introduction.” He added that confidence-building should be seen as both a process and an end goal, and one which requires time and patience.

Zannier noted that the CSCECSCE
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe/OSCE’s broad and inclusive model of security co-operation “made a substantial contribution to building peace in a deeply polarized world in which an atmosphere of hostility and mistrust prevailed”, and served as “a catalyst for profound changes in East-West relations”.  He highlighted the need for the Organization to adapt its work in confronting evolving security challenges of transnational nature.

“Our model, which is so much a product of the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security conditions of the last forty years, is only a single model,” Zannier said in his address to the participants of the Seoul conference. “Your eventual success will come from borrowing only those elements from the OSCE toolbox that are suited to your political and security context, adapting them to your specific needs.” He stressed that the OSCE was ready to offer its expertise to the Korean authorities.

In addition to the participation in the conference, the Secretary General’s agenda in Seoul includes high-level meetings at the Foreign Ministry, the Presidential Administration and the Ministry of National Defense, as well as a lecture at the Seoul National University.