S. Korean envoy to U.N. tapped to chair commission on peace building

SEOUL, Jan. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Ambassador to the United Nations Cho Tae-yul has been elected to chair the international body's commission on peace building, the foreign ministry here said Tuesday.

Cho will officially take office as the chairman of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) on Wednesday in New York for a one-year term, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Composed of 31 member states, the PBC was established in December 2005 as an intergovernmental advisory body under the U.N. with a mission to provide recommendations in post-conflict peace building, reconstruction and development.

It is the first time that a South Korean diplomat has assumed the chairmanship at the commission although the country filled the vice chairmanship slot twice in the past.

In his capacity as the PBC chairman, Cho is scheduled to host a reception on Tuesday in New York at the South Korean mission, welcoming delegations to a high-level meeting on building sustainable peace.

High-profile U.N. officials, including the secretary general and the chiefs of the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council, will attend the reception along with some 250 ambassadors and government officials from around the world, the ministry said.

pbr@yna.co.kr
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