The number of major violent conflicts across the globe has tripled since 2010.
To bring about a change, preventing violence instead of addressing outbreaks after they fully evolve is key according to the United Nations and the World Bank.
As such they are calling on the international community to focus on preventive measures.
Our Cha Sang-mi went to learn more from the authors of a joint report by the two global bodies.
The world has seen a dramatic surge of violent conflicts... the number tripling since 2010.
Reported battle-related deaths in 2016 jumped tenfold from the post-Cold War low of 2005, and the number of terrorist attacks across the world has peaked over the past ten years.
To address this serious global issue, the United Nations and the World Bank issued a joint report called the "Pathways for Peace" and presented the content on Monday in Seoul.
Citing a rise in the number of displaced people, deaths in war, military spending and terrorist incidents, the international institutions say violent conflicts are no longer limited to low-income countries, breaking the long-standing assumption that income growth is accompanied by peace.

"After the end of the Cold War in 1989, you really see a different kind of wars developing... a lot of the civil wars and the Cold War came to an end, and now you see a lot of non-state actors emerging (cut) you can see strong links between transnational organized crime organizations and terrorist groups that function partly as transnational organized crime coups, kidnapping and trafficking of drugs and arms to make money..."

The UN and the World Bank say that the pathway to peace lies in the prevention of the risk of violence, rather than focusing on addressing outbreaks and violence that have fully evolved.
Alexandre Marc, the lead-author of the report, says that the prevention is a lot more cost-effective.

"The result is that we calculate about 1 dollar put in successful prevention to present 16 dollars saved in conflict cost. So, prevention whatever way you work it, even in the most pessimistic perspective, if you succeed only one time in four, allows you to save about 5 billion dollars per year to the world."

And with the forum taking place in Seoul, international leaders hailed South Korea for developing so much in a short period of time -- as a country that transitioned from an aid recipient to one of the leading donors.
Cha Sang-mi, Arirang News.