Diplomacy Journal David Kendall 기자 | On January 19, Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released the following statement: “The government of the Republic of Korea welcomes the United States’ recent announcement of the launch of Phase Two of the Gaza Peace Plan as well as the formation of the Board of Peace and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG). The ROK government appreciates President Trump’s initiative in advancing peace in Gaza, along with the efforts of mediators including Qatar, Egypt, and Türkiye.

“The government hopes that the parties thoroughly and swiftly implement the Peace Plan to ensure the return of the one remaining hostage, the improvement of the humanitarian situation, and the demilitarization of Gaza, eventually resulting in the reconstruction and restoration of peace in Gaza.”

On January 20, South Korea was officially invited to join the U.S.-led Board of Peace. “Seoul's potential participation is ‘under review,’” The Korea Herald reported the same day, further quoting an unnamed MOFA official as saying, “a decision on participation will be made after taking into account which countries will be involved."

Apart from a January 22 announcement about President Donald Trump ratifying the Charter of the Board of Peace and serving as its Chairman, The White House website has no official announcement or updates as of January 27. The U.S. State Department website’s most recent coverage is a story about Secretary Marco Rubio’s statement at the signing ceremony in Davos: “Many want to be a part of this effort because it is going to be a successful effort, and you see it reflected here today among countries of different backgrounds, from different parts of the world – majority-Christian some, majority-Muslim others – who’ve come together – in fact, former adversaries who have joined here as part of this Board of Peace.

A January 22 Financial Press piece “Is India a member?,” concludes that “New Delhi is examining various aspects of the proposal, given the sensitivity of the issues involved.” The same article lists Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Italy as having declined, with France inclined to join them. “Canada has agreed to join the board ‘in principle’ … The United Kingdom, Germany and Japan have not yet announced their decisions.”

In that report, Financial Press listed  21 countries as joining the United States on the Board: Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, the UAE, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

On January 27, The Times of Israel reported four more countries had joined—Albania, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Mongolia. That article states France has declined the invitation, along with five more confirmed rejections: Germany, Greece, Slovenia, the UK and Ukraine.