5 Japan's Efforts at the United Nations

(1) Japan-UN Relationship

The UN is an international organization that nearly all the countries in the world are members of (193 member states as of December 2024). It addresses various challenges in diverse areas such as conflict resolution and peacebuilding, counter-terrorism, disarmament and non-proliferation, poverty and development, human rights, refugee issues, environment and climate change issues, disaster risk reduction, and public health.

Since joining the UN in 1956, Japan has leveraged both its universality and expertise to realize policy aims through multilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas, including the three pillars of the UN─peace and security, development, and human rights. Japan served for the 12th time as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council from January 2023 to December 2024, the most frequent among all UN Member States. Throughout its two-year term on the Security Council, Japan played a key role and worked proactively on a wide range of issues aimed at maintaining peace and security in the international community through close communication and dialogue with each country, while cooperating to ensure that the Security Council fulfills its primary role. (See “Summary of Japan's Term as a Non-Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council (Statement by Foreign Minister Iwaya)” on page 244.) In order to support such activities, the Government of Japan financially contributes to the UN alongside actively engaging in the organizational aspects (management) of the UN. Japan also supports Japanese staff working in the UN to obtain important posts. (See Chapter 4, Section 1, 2(1)) With the international order undergoing major upheavals, it is becoming more important than before to strengthen international norms based on the rule of law. Japan is working proactively to strengthen the functions of the UN, including UN Security Council reform, with a view to strengthening multilateralism with the UN at its core.

(2) Major Events in 2024

In March, Foreign Minister Kamikawa visited New York and presided over the Ministerial Meeting of the UN Security Council on “Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation,” Japan's first as the chair of the UN Security Council and the only country to have ever suffered atomic bombings during the war. She also held a meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, where she stated that Japan would continue and strengthen its efforts in disarmament and non-proliferation. Both sides agreed to cooperate to strengthen multilateralism, and exchanged views on the Middle East situation, the situation in Ukraine, the response to North Korea including the abductions issue, and the promotion of Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), among other topics.

Foreign Minister Kamikawa presiding over the Ministerial Meeting of the UN Security Council on “Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation” (March 18, New York, U.S.)

Japan also hosted the UN Security Council meeting on peacebuilding during the same month. As it has contributed during previous terms, Japan continued to work on improving the work methods of the UN Security Council, including enhancing the efficiency and transparency of the Council.

The High-Level Week of the 79th UN General Assembly convened in September. Prime Minister Kishida and Foreign Minister Kamikawa attended from Japan.

At the Plenary Meeting of the Summit of the Future, the outcome document, “Pact for the Future,” which sets out 56 actions to protect the interests of current and future generations, was adopted. This outcome document covers the rule of law, human dignity, and the realization of a world without nuclear weapons, and for the first time, concrete details on UN Security reforms at the leaders' level. In his address delivered at the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Kishida stressed once again the importance of these elements, and called strongly on the international community to share responsibility and unite under the banner of multilateralism.

Prime Minister Kishida delivering a speech at the Plenary Meeting of the Summit of the Future (September 22, New York, U.S.; Photo: Official Website of the Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet)

At the High-Level Launch Meeting of the Friends of a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) organized by Japan, Prime Minister Kishida, together with ministers and high-level government officials from 12 Friends of FMCT member states comprising both nuclear-weapon and non-nuclear-weapon States, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, confirmed close cooperation toward the early start of negotiations on an FMCT. In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Kishida, pointed out the need for an early start to negotiations on an FMCT in view that the world is on the cusp of a reversal of the decreasing trend of the number of nuclear arsenals for the first time since the peak of the Cold War. Furthermore, in his address at the UN General Assembly, he highlighted the importance of strengthening governance at both national and international levels as one of the foundations for uniting the international community to strengthen the rule of law and protect human dignity in these difficult times when divisions and confrontations are deepening (the address was delivered by Ambassador Yamazaki, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, on behalf of Prime Minister Kishida).

Prime Minister Kishida also took the opportunity of the UN High-level Week to meet with the leaders and high-level officials of eight countries and organizations, and exchanged opinions actively on various issues and bilateral relations in the international arena. In his meeting with UN Secretary-General Guterres, Prime Minister Kishida highlighted the importance of cooperating with the UN on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation toward the realization of a world without nuclear weapons, and expressed his stance of promoting commitment to multilateralism. He also stressed the importance of increasing the number of Japanese staff in the UN organizations and agencies. Secretary-General Guterres thanked Japan for its cooperation with the UN and shared the recognition of the importance of multilateralism with the UN at its core.

Meeting between Prime Minister Kishida and UN Secretary-General Guterres at the UN General Assembly High-level Week (September 22, New York, U.S.; Photo: Official Website of the Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet)

During his stay in New York, Prime Minister Kishida attended the U.S.-Japan Tourism Event and a finance-related event hosted by Bloomberg. At the U.S.-Japan Tourism Event, he promoted the diverse sightseeing attractions, food, and alcohol from various parts of Japan, such as Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, the Sado Island Gold Mines, and Japanese sake from Noto. At the Bloomberg-hosted finance event, he announced the launch of an Asset Management Forum that will allow Japanese and U.S. asset management companies and others to promote investment and engage in dialogues on the reform of the asset management industry. During her short stay, Foreign Minister Kamikawa engaged in discussions with foreign ministers from 15 countries and organizations, including the Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the G4 Countries on UN Security Council Reform, the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, and the Japan-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting, holding various intensive and strategic talks and meetings that covered priority issues for Japan's diplomacy. Through the meetings with various countries, she strived to further boost cooperation with like-minded countries on addressing various issues, sending out a strong message on the importance of the UN and on strengthening its functions, including reform of the UN Security Council, while affirming cooperation on the regional situation in Ukraine, the Middle East, and North Korea.

■Activities of the Panel of Experts

The Panel of Experts (PoE) for assisting the UN Security Council 1718 Sanctions Committee was established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1874 (2009). Since then, the PoE has monitored and published reports on cases of UN sanctions violations and evasions, including North Korea's nuclear and missile development, foreign currency acquisition through the dispatch of workers overseas, cryptocurrency thefts carried out through cyberattacks, and illicit transactions through ship-to-ship transfers.¹

Every report needs to be signed by all eight PoE members before its publication. The PoE discusses draft reports in July and January each year, and former PoE members have said that discussions often become heated during this process. The reports adopted by consensus in the Security Council after these discussions have pointed out examples of activities that violate or evade the relevant Security Council resolutions, as well as the countries, organizations, and individuals involved in such activities. UN Member States have referred to this information in their domestic efforts toward ensuring full implementation of Security Council resolutions, and have maintained and strengthened UN sanctions on North Korea accordingly.

■Activities Terminated due to Exercise of Veto by Russia

Reports by the PoE in recent years contain the cases regarding the transfer of military supplies from North Korea to Russia. However, in late March 2024, Russia exercised its veto on the draft Security Council resolution regarding the extension of the mandate of the PoE, which led to the end of 15 years of the PoE's activities at the end of April.

A former member of the PoE commented that despite the mounting piles of cases to be investigated, they have worked to the very end with a strong determination to raise awareness among the public on the activities of countries, organizations, and individuals involved in violation and evasions of the UN sanctions, and to promote full implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions. The cases under investigation included the one regarding the short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) used by Russia in its attacks against Ukraine.

■Final mission: Inspection of North Korea-made SRBMs in Ukraine

In early January, it was revealed that Russia had used North Korea-made SRBMs in its attacks against Ukraine. The PoE immediately communicated to the Government of Ukraine its wish to conduct an on-site investigation, but the PoE members from Japan, the UK, and the ROK only arrived in Ukraine in mid-April, just before the activities of the PoE were due to be terminated. As its final mission, the PoE obtained information indicating that the SRBM was made by North Korea and launched from inside Russia. It submitted the findings to the Security Council, which pointed to violations of Security Council resolutions by Russia and North Korea.

Some of the parts of a North Korea-made SRBM being examined by the PoE in Ukraine (April, Ukraine; Photo: Former member of the PoE)

■Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team: A new initiative to ensure implementation of UN sanctions

Although the activities of the PoE were terminated, UN Member States are still obligated to implement Security Council resolutions. In this regard, as one of the alternatives to the PoE, Japan, together with like-minded countries, established the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) in October. Going forward, Japan continues to play a role in ensuring the effectiveness of sanctions on North Korea by cooperating with like-minded countries to support implementation of resolutions by UN Member States through the regular publication of information on violations and evasions of UN sanctions, and by utilizing existing platforms such as the Asian Export Control Seminar.

---

• 1 In this context, “ship-to-ship transfers” refers to the transfers to or from North Korea-flagged vessels of any goods or items at sea, which UN Security Council resolution 2375 (adopted in September 2017) prohibits UN member states from facilitating or engaging in.

(3) UN Security Council and its Reform

A UN Security Council

The UN Security Council holds the primary responsibility within the UN for maintaining international peace and security. It is composed of five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members that are elected by UN Member States (for two-year terms). The UN Security Council's agenda covers a wide range of areas from the peaceful settlement of disputes and addressing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, to peacebuilding and Women, Peace, and Security (WPS). In recent years, new themes such as climate change and food security have also been covered. The UN Security Council also has a mandate to determine the details of activities in UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) and UN Special Political Missions (SPM).

B Reform of the UN Security Council

The composition of the UN Security Council has largely remained unchanged since the establishment of the UN, even amid significant changes to the structure of the international community and diversification of the UN's functions today. In response to Russia's aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, a resolution that deplores the aggression by Russia and calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops was put to a vote in the UN Security Council. However, it was not adopted, as Russia exercised its veto. Consequently, the UN Security Council was unable to take a coordinated response. This clearly shows that the UN Security Council cannot function effectively in response to situations such as Russia's aggression against Ukraine. There is a broadly shared view among the international community that an early reform of the UN Security Council is necessary to make the body more legitimate, effective, and representative.

To play an even more proactive role toward the realization of world peace and security through the UN, Japan has been making efforts to convince other countries to pursue an early UN Security Council reform, with the expansion of both permanent and non-permanent seats and Japan's admission as a permanent member.

C Recent Activities Regarding UN Security Council Reform

Since 2009, in the UN General Assembly, Member States have been engaging in the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on UN Security Council reform. Eight meetings took place during the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, between December 2023 and June 2024. During the 78th session, concrete discussions were held on the reform model (various proposals on the allocation of seats or on veto, including the G4 model or Africa model, by Member States/groups, and other details) through the initiative of the joint chairs of IGN on Security Council Reform, with the support of the Member States. In October, Philemon Yang, President of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, reappointed the Permanent Representatives of the State of Kuwait and of Austria as Co-Chairs of the IGN. As they continue with the work from the 78th session, the spotlight will be placed on how future discussions will progress.

“Pact for the Future,” the outcome document of the Summit of the Future held at the UN General Assembly in September, was the first concrete, leaders' level outcome document on UN Security Council reforms, and it provided impetus for advancing initiatives going forward. Examples of the outcomes include: (a) mention of the “urgent” need for UN Security Council reform; (b) establishment of an indirect timeline for the UN Security Council reform by taking into consideration SDG 16.8, one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at broadening and strengthening the participation of developing countries in international organizations by 2030; (c) calling for the development of a consolidated model based on various reform models; (d) calling for agreement on the issue of expanding seat categories, based on IGN discussions to date; (e) encouraging restraint on the use of veto in the UN Security Council.

Japan also places great importance on the initiatives of the G4 (Japan, India, Germany, and Brazil), a group that cooperates on promoting UN Security Council reform. Foreign Minister Kamikawa attended the Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the G4 countries in September in conjunction with the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly. At the meeting, the participants welcomed the international community's call for urgent reform of the UN Security Council set out in “Pact for the Future,” and looking ahead to the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the UN in 2025, concurred on working with the relevant countries including Africa and the U.S. to achieve concrete progress as soon as possible. Japan will continue to work closely with many countries and persevere toward the realization of UN Security Council reform.

Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the G4 Countries on UN Security Council Reform (September 23, New York, U.S.)

(4) Organizational Aspects of the UN (Management)

A Management

UN Secretary-General Guterres positions reforms in the management of the UN along with peace efforts and development as issues of priority, and works continuously to enhance global governance. In 2024, he proposed concrete measures for the UN to adapt to a new era, including his initiative to organize the Summit of the Future. Japan supports the objectives of the reform with the hope that the UN will fulfill its mission more effectively and efficiently.

B Budget

The UN budget is mainly composed of the regular budget for general activities (an annual budget for the period from January to December), and the peacekeeping budget related to peacekeeping operations (an annual budget for the period from July to the following June).

With regard to the regular budget, a budget for 2025 amounting to approximately 3.72 billion U.S. dollars was approved in December 2024 at the UN General Assembly. The budget for peacekeeping operations for the period of 2024-2025 amounting to approximately 5.59 billion U.S. dollars in total was approved in June 2024.

The budget to support UN activities is composed of assessed contributions mandatorily paid by Member States and voluntary contributions provided in accordance with Member States' policy needs. With regard to assessed contributions, Japan currently ranks third following the U.S. and China. Japan contributed approximately 253.11 million U.S. dollars to the UN regular budget for 2024, and approximately 418.44 million U.S. dollars to the peacekeeping budget for 2024/25. As a major financial contributor, Japan has been encouraging the UN to make more efficient and effective use of its financial resources. The scale of assessments, which provides the basis for calculating the amount of assessed contributions, is revised every three years based on the capacities to pay of the Member States. Japan's scale of assessment, revised at the end of 2024, is 6.930% (2025-2027), behind the U.S. and China.

Key bodies that address administrative and budgetary matters of the UN are the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) and the Committee on Contributions. Both are standing subsidiary committees of the General Assembly and are comprised of members serving in their personal capacities. The ACABQ reviews the overall administrative and budgetary issues of the UN and makes recommendations to the General Assembly, while the Committee on Contributions submits a proposal on the scale of assessments of the regular budget for a decision to be made by all Member States at the General Assembly. Hence, both committees play an important role. Members from Japan have served continuously on both of these committees.