The second vice foreign minister attended a ceremony in the southern port city of Busan marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations.

At the UN Day ceremony at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea on Friday, Kim Jin-a said the organization had been created to overcome the calamities of war and to seek international peace and co-prosperity. 

She then paid tribute to UN forces who had sacrificed their lives to defend freedom on the Korean Peninsula during the Korean War in the name of love and solidarity..

Kim went on to say that it is South Korea's responsibility to the international community to safeguard peace on the peninsula. 

Earlier on Thursday, at a formal dinner commemorating UN Day, Kim stressed that the UN must execute its function as the most comprehensive and effective forum for discussion in today’s new, complex state of crisis. 

She vowed that South Korea, as a responsible world power, will contribute to world peace and solidarity.

The UN General Assembly classified October 24 as UN Day to mark the anniversary of the UN Charter, which came into force in 1945.