NEW YORK (Yonhap) ― Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon has expressed hope for the South Korean capital to host United Nations bodies on the human rights of the elderly and disabled, city officials said.
Mayor Park is in the United States for a week-long trip aimed at forging cooperation with four U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, and to attend the U.N. Climate Summit.
“By 2040, one-third of Seoul‘s citizens would be elderly, while most of the disabled there feel discriminated against. But there are still no international organizations specializing in these issues in Seoul,” Park said during a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday.
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| Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon shakes hands with his Paris counterpart Anne Hidalgo in New York on Tuesday. (Seoul Metroplitan Government) |
Park picked the United Nations Population Fund as one of the prospective U.N. bodies that could be based in Seoul, according to the officials.
The mayor said he would also welcome hosting research institutes or other academic associations in the capital as part of his push to lure global social-welfare organizations.
In response, Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, agreed on the importance of Park’s proposal and expressed his willingness to cooperate, the officials said.
During the U.N. Climate Summit on Tuesday, Park also issued a statement stipulating the role of global metropolises in jointly tackling global climate change, the officials added.
