The Feasibility of Reforming the UN Security Council: Too Much Talk, Too Little Action?

• Author: Seryon Lee
• Position: Professor of International Law at Chonbuk National University( 'CNU') School of Law, Korea, B.A.(Chicago), LL.B.(CNU), LL.M.(NYU), Ph.D.(Yonsei). The author may be contacted at: seryon@jbnu.ac.kr / Address: 567 Baekjedaero, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, 561-756 Korea.
• Pages: 405-418

The Feasibility of

Reforming the UN Security

Council: Too Much Talk,

Too Little Action?

Seryon Lee



While a broad consensus exists over the necessity of reforming the Security Council,

the disagreement among the different groups of member States prevails in great part

due to the enlargement and category of membership and the working methods. Such

divergence in views attributed to the stalemate in the debate over the Security

Council



s reform. However, the recent discussion has gained momentum since the

launch of the intergovernmental negotiation at the UN level. The key issues

surrounding the UN Security Reform include the size of an enlarged Council,

categories of membership with proper regional representation, the veto, working

methods and relations with the General Assembly. It is essential not only to properly

assess the content of the different proposals to bring out the most



sensible



solution,

but the attitude of the five permanent members should also be closely examined. In

any case, the potential changes in the structure of the Security Council would

ultimately require a unanimous decision of the 5P States. This article aims to review

the historical development of the Security Council



s reform debate and concentrate

on the most contentious questions by analyzing the content of the relevant proposals

to test the feasibility of each option.

Keywords

UN Security Council Reform, G4 Proposal, UFC Proposal, Ezulwini

Consensus

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* Professor of International Law at Chonbuk National University(CNU) School of Law, Korea, B.A.(Chicago),

LL.B.(CNU), LL.M.(NYU), Ph.D.(Yonsei). The author may be contacted at: seryon@jbnu.ac.kr / Address: 567 Baekje-

daero, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, 561-756 Korea.