Academic Wants United Nations Headquarters Moved to South Korea

Here is what one good idea fairy Mr. Emanuel Yi Pastreich from Kyunghee University wants to do with the UN Headquarters:

So what are the implications of American disengagement from the U.N. for South Korea, and for the peninsula as a whole? The immediate response among my Korean friends is dread. After all, Koreans see their country as a “shrimp among whales” that needs constant protection and support from the U.S.

But every crisis is an opportunity, if you have the courage to seize the moment.

No country is more deeply committed to multilateralism in trade, in diplomacy and in security than South Korea, granted that the alliance with the U.S. limits the South’s ability to make good on this general sentiment among policy makers. Whether on the left or on the right, there is a remarkable consensus in South Korea concerning good relations with all its neighbors (with the notable exception of North Korea).

What if South Korea proposed that U.N. headquarters be moved from New York City to the Korean Peninsula, perhaps even to Seoul?

To start with, the Trump administration might welcome this proposal. Just look at all the administration has done to undermine multilateral cooperation over the last year. Moreover, there are also progressive voices around the world that suggest the U.S. is no longer qualified to be home to such an institution in light of the country’s recent shift to isolationism.

There has been a strong argument for years that a major U.N. institution should be located in Northeast Asia. After all, other than the United Nations University in Tokyo and some smaller offices, The major U.N. institutions are in Geneva (and elsewhere in Europe), Nairobi, New York City and Washington D.C.

Northeast Asia, as the new center of the global economy and a growing source for new cultural production, would be a logical place for the headquarters.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but I do find it interesting that Mr. Pastreich is claiming US isolationism and disengagement from the UN when the Trump administration has repeatedly gone to the UN for sanctions on North Korea.  Mr. Pastreich’s argument is mostly based on the Trump administration’s decision to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem.  Last I checked the United Nations has no authority to tell other countries where their embassy should be located.

Also Mr. Pastreich talks about the Trump administration wanting to limit or end global governance.  In my opinion the Trump administration wants to influence global governance that is not in the US’s interest.  Sanctions on the Kim regime is in the US’s interests thus why the Trump administration pursues it with the United Nations.  Signing on to the Paris Climate Accord brokered by the UN the Trump administration determined was not in the US’s economic interest.