Few Seoulites are aware that the city hosts an inter-governmental “international organization.” The International Vaccine Institute under the United Nations Development Programme, situated near Seoul National University since May 1997, is the first and the only international organization headquartered in Korea. Now, it is time for a second one ― the Global Green Growth Institute.

Since its founding in June 2010 by the strong initiative of Korea, the GGGI has been a non-profit think tank located in Seoul (in Jeongdong, more precisely), whose mandate is to do everything “green,” by promoting an economic model of green growth as a pathway to sustainable development.

The think tank is now on the verge of becoming the second international organization headquartered in Korea as Kiribati deposited its instrument of ratification. According to the constituent treaty, the Agreement on the Establishment of the GGGI signed in June 2012 by 17 countries, this coming Oct. 18 will be the birth date of this new international organization.

Everything is right on schedule, except that it is not clear when the hosting country Korea can complete its domestic ratification procedure at the National Assembly and submit its own instrument of ratification. Embarrassing would be the only word to describe the situation where nobody knows for sure when Korea is officially joining this global body of its own making, which already exists on its own soil.

It is all bad timing. As the race for the December presidential election heats up each day, and the confrontation between political factions intensifies, a critical mass seems to be hard to form in the National Assembly to finalize one of the signature projects of the current administration. But this global initiative is too important to be put into the domestic political mix.

With just two weeks to go before the creation of the international organization and with every country watching, we simply don’t have the luxury of putting this on the back burner. Ratification should be completed as soon as possible and the entity should be let to run its business.

The fact of the matter is, a long “to-do” list is waiting for Korea as a host country of an international organization. A follow-up bilateral agreement between the new international organization and Korea may be necessary to deal with such issues as the legal status of the entity in Korea and extension of diplomatic immunities and privileges to the staff. All these follow-up steps will be delayed until Korea completes its domestic procedure. The longer the delay is, the higher the level of embarrassment is. Seoul would have to watch hard-won leadership in this particular area since June 2010 slip through its fingers.

There are treaties which may carry political implications and stoke domestic debates. Ratification of these treaties should inevitably take a long time. However, there are also treaties for which national consensus is already there. It is this latter category that green growth belongs to.

More important, if the launch of the international organization in October is somehow less than optimal, Seoul’s chances of becoming a serious contender for a future international organization will be virtually gone. On the other hand, given the mounting global attention to green growth, a successful launch of this particular entity in Seoul will perhaps become the first step to make the city the hub of green endeavors of the future.

Establishing the GGGI as an international organization is the culmination of the three years’ hard work. Barring compelling reasons, the ratification should be done promptly, so that Korea can live up to its promises made to the international community. 

By Lee Jae-min

Lee Jae-min is a professor of law at the School of Law, Hanyang University, in Seoul. Formerly he practiced law as an associate attorney with Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. ― Ed.