UN voting record · Asia
How South Korea votes at the UN
South Korea votes with the European democracies, Japan and Australia at the General Assembly. In 2025 it agreed with Japan on 96% of recorded votes (votes where each country's choice is listed), with the United Kingdom on 94% and with the United States on 24%, down from 70% in 2024, mainly because the United States voted no on most texts. Even before 2025, it parted from the United States on Gaza and Palestine, where it votes with the large majority.
- 94%
With United KingdomIn 2024: 88% - 96%
With JapanIts closest Asian partner - 24%
With the USIn 2024: 70% - 80%
With ChinaIn 2024: 57%
Share of recorded General Assembly votes on which South Korea and each country voted the same way, 2025.
Does South Korea vote with the US at the UN?
South Korea agreed with the United States on 24% of recorded votes in 2025, down from 70% in 2024. The drop came mostly from the United States side.
Then-President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed by the Constitutional Court on April 4, 2025. President Lee Jae-myung took office on June 4, 2025. Lee calls his line "pragmatic diplomacy based on national interests." The change of president did not change South Korea's big votes.
How does the UN vote on North Korea?
The General Assembly's yearly resolution on human rights in North Korea has been adopted without a vote every year since 2016. South Korea co-sponsored the resolution from 2008 to 2018, stopped under then-President Moon Jae-in from 2019, and rejoined under then-President Yoon Suk Yeol in 2022. Under President Lee Jae-myung it co-sponsored again in 2025. A Foreign Ministry official said: "Our government believes it is important to make tangible improvements to the human rights of North Korean people."
South Korea told the Security Council in April 2025 that North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia "clearly violates Security Council resolutions," in the words of Hwang Joon-kook, then South Korea's UN ambassador.
How does South Korea vote on Gaza and Palestine?
South Korea abstained on the October 2023 General Assembly text calling for a humanitarian truce in Gaza. It has voted yes on every Gaza ceasefire text in the Assembly since December 2023. A Foreign Ministry official said in October 2023 that South Korea supported the text's aim but abstained "because it did not condemn Hamas."
South Korea gave no public reason for the switch in December 2023. More than 25 countries that abstained in October voted yes in December. In May 2024 South Korea voted yes on Palestine's membership bid, after abstaining in 2012 on making Palestine a non-member observer state. A Foreign Ministry official said the vote showed "our willingness to engage actively with these countries," meaning the developing world. South Korea does not recognize Palestine as a state.
- Oct 2023Humanitarian truce in Gaza120 yes, 14 no, 45 abstainedAbstained
- Dec 2023Humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza153 yes, 10 no, 23 abstainedYes
- May 2024Palestine's UN membership bid143 yes, 9 no, 25 abstainedYes
- Jun 2025Ceasefire in Gaza, June 2025149 yes, 12 no, 19 abstainedYes
- Sep 2025The New York Declaration on a two-state solution142 yes, 10 no, 12 abstainedYes
Which countries vote most like South Korea?
Compare with any country →South Korea voted most like the European democracies, Japan and Australia in 2025. Even though it belongs to the UN's Asia-Pacific Group, it votes in a Western-aligned cluster at the Assembly. It voted least like the United States, Israel and Argentina.
Monaco
Slovenia
Australia
Belgium
Spain
Finland- United States24%
Israel43%
Argentina47%
Nauru50%
Paraguay70%
How did South Korea vote on the big votes?
| Vote | South Korea | United States | Japan | China | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A just and lasting peace in UkraineFebruary 24, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Abstained | Adopted 93–18 |
| Demanding a permanent ceasefire in GazaJune 12, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 149–12 |
| The New York Declaration on two statesSeptember 12, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 142–10 |
| Palestine's bid for UN membershipMay 10, 2024 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 143–9 |
| Ending the US embargo on CubaOctober 29, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 165–7 |
Where does South Korea sit?
South Korea sits in the Western cluster of the strip, placed near Japan and the European democracies.
Russia
India