S. KOREA LOSES SEAT IN UNHRC

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For the first time South Korea has lost a seat in the UN Human Rights Council. The government says it has failed to make the right choices when it comes to elections in international organizations. Korea's status in international diplomacy will inevitably suffer a blow.

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The UN Human Rights Council has been a part of the international community's calls for North Korea to improve its human rights conditions. In April, it adopted a resolution on humans rights in the North. It's one of the UN's top-three organizations along with the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council. South Korea has won seats in the Human Rights Council five times since its launch in 2006. However, it lost its seat for the first time in the latest vote held in New York on Tuesday local time. Korea finished fifth, but only four seats are allocated to the Asia-Pacific region. The result was dumbfounding, as it had fallen short against countries where the human rights situation is far from exemplary. A foreign ministry official says Korea lacked focus by dispursing its candidates to run in too many elections at international organizations this year. This year alone, Korea ran for 14 seats in international organizations. Four of the bids, including the one at the Human Rights Council, were supported proactively by the government. That's a lot more compared to the past two years. Each of the UN's 193 member-nations can cast only one vote. Oftentimes they trade their votes or cast them alternately. With so many Korean officials running in the elections, the "yes votes" ran out too early. But analysts say developing countries that are unhappy with the UN's activities led by the western powers hold negative views about South Korea having a seat in the council as an advanced country.

[Soundbite] Oh Joon(Former S.Korean ambassador to UN) : "Rather than showing our presence in the UN, we should take a more strategic approach based on our diplomatic priorities."

With Korea losing its seat in the UN Human Rights Council despite the Yoon administration's value-based diplomacy prioritizing human rights, South Korea's diplomatic influence will inevitably suffer a blow.