Posted on 12/14/2006 9:01:32 AM PST by sonsofliberty2000
Ban Ki-moon Sworn In As Secretary General of UN
Ban Ki-moon (IPA pronunciation: [bɑn gi mun]; born June 13, 1944 in Eumseong, Korea) is a South Korean politician and the Secretary General-elect of the United Nations. He will succeed Kofi Annan as Secretary-General on January 1, 2007.[1]
Ki-moon was the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) from January 2004 to November 1, 2006. On October 13, 2006, he was elected to be the next Secretary-General by the United Nations General Assembly. On December 14, 2006, he was sworn in as the eight Secretary-General. Contents [hide]
* 1 Education * 2 Personal * 3 Career * 4 UN Secretary-General candidacy * 5 Criticism * 6 Awards * 7 References * 8 External links
[edit] Education
Ban received his bachelor's degree in International Relations from Seoul National University in 1970 and earned a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1985.
[edit] Personal
Ban is married and has a son and two daughters.[2] In addition to his native Korean, Ban is fluent in English and French.
He identifies himself as a non-denominational Christian. He is member of the "Nonchurch Movement" (Mugyohoe),[3] a movement founded by Uchimura Kanzo which spread to Korea in the 1920s. Its members, mostly intellectuals, make the Gospel a source of inspiration for their private and public life.[4]
As a high school student in the early 1960s, Ban met U.S. President John F. Kennedy in Washington, D.C. after winning an English language competition organized by the American Red Cross. He has said that it was after this meeting that he resolved to become a diplomat.
Career
Ban joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May 1970 and worked his way up during the years of the Yusin Constitution.
His first overseas posting was to New Delhi, after which he worked in the United Nations Division at the foreign ministry's headquarters. At the time of Park Chung Hee's assassination, Ban had climbed to the position of First Secretary at South Korea's Permanent Observer Mission to the UN in New York City (South Korea only became a full UN member state on September 17, 1991). He subsequently assumed the post of Director of the United Nations Division. He has been posted twice to the Republic of Korea (ROK) Embassy in Washington, D.C. Between these two assignments he served as Director-General for American Affairs in 1990–1992. He was promoted to the position of Deputy Minister for Policy Planning and International Organizations in 1995. He was then appointed National Security Advisor to the President in 1996, and assumed the office of Vice Minister in 2000. His most recent post was as Foreign Policy Advisor to the President Noh Moo-hyun.
While serving as Ambassador to Austria, Ban was elected as Chairman of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO PrepCom) in 1999. During the ROK's Presidency of the 56th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (GA) in 2001, he worked as Chef de Cabinet of the President of the GA.
Ban has been actively involved in issues relating to inter-Korean relationships. In 1992, he served as Vice Chairman of the South-North Joint Nuclear Control Commission, following the adoption by South and North Korea of the Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In September 2005, as Foreign Minister, he played a leading role in the diplomatic efforts to adopt the Joint Statement on resolving the North Korean nuclear issue at the Fourth Round of the Six-Party Talks held in Beijing.
[edit] UN Secretary-General candidacy
In February 2006, Ban declared his candidacy to replace Kofi Annan as UN Secretary-General at the end of 2006, becoming the first South Korean to run for Secretary-General.[5] He topped each of the four straw polls conducted by the UN Security Council on July 24,[6] 14 September,[7] September 28[8] and October 2. [9]
In the October 2 informal poll, Ban received fourteen favorable votes and one "no opinion" from the fifteen members of the Security Council; the Japanese delegation the only nation not in full agreement. More importantly, Ban was the only one to escape a veto, while each of the five other candidates received at least one "no" vote from the five permanent members of the council — People's Republic of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[10] After the vote, Shashi Tharoor, who finished second, withdrew his candidacy[11] and China's Permanent Representative to the UN told reporters that "it is quite clear from today's straw poll that Minister Ban Ki-moon is the candidate that the Security Council will recommend to the General Assembly."[12]
Criticism
As the election of the successor to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan drew closer there was rising criticism of the South Korean campaign on Ban's behalf. Specifically, his alleged practice[citation needed] of systematically visiting all member states of the UN Security Council in his role as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade to secure votes in his support by signing trade deals with European countries and pledging foreign aid to developing countries were the focus of some news articles.[13][14]
According to the Washington Post, "rivals have privately grumbled that Republic of Korea, which has the world's 11th-largest economy, has wielded its economic might to generate support for his candidacy". Ban reportedly has said that these insinuations are "groundless". In an interview on 17 September 2006 he reportedly stated: "As front-runner, I know that I can become a target of this very scrutinizing process" and "I am a man of integrity."[15]
Although not directly a criticism of Ban Ki-Moon, there has also been concern[citation needed] over the appointment of Kang Kyung-wha, Ban's campaign manager, as Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, an assistant secretary-general-level position, with only weeks left in Kofi Annan's term.[16]
Within Korea, Ban’s nickname is Ban-chusa, which may be loosely translated as “administrative clerk.” This appellation is used by Ban’s supporters and opponents alike, but the latter intend to hint at a “lack of charisma and a supposed willingness to bend to the will of his superiors,” as well as his personality, which they perceive to be uninspiring. [17]
[edit] Awards
Ban has twice been awarded the Order of Service Merit in 1975 and 1986 by the Government of the Republic of Korea. For his accomplishments as an envoy, he received the Grand Decoration of Honour from the Republic of Austria in 2001. A year later, the government of Brazil bestowed the Grand Cross of Rio Branco upon him.
In September 2005, the Korea Society in New York honoured him with the James A. Van Fleet Award for his contributions to friendship between the United States and the Republic of Korea.[18]
Sounds like a big improvement over Kofi. But that's not much of a compliment considering a pile of steaming doggie doo would also be a big improvement over Kofi.
Buh-Bye Kofi and good riddance!
So, now they're all Moonies?............
Such a comparison is an insult to doggie doo.
/rhetorical question
Good luck to Ban Ki-Moon. He is going to need it.
Now! Maybe Now! But I wont hold my breath.
Was Koffing Annus Crying???
Reuters: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1859582006
Ban Ki-moon sworn in as U.N. secretary-general
By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - South Korea's Ban Ki-moon was sworn in as the eighth U.N. secretary-general on Thursday, pledging to be a "bridge-builder" and lead a dynamic and courageous United Nations when he takes over on January 1.
Ban, 62, took the oath of office in a ceremony in the 192-nation U.N. General Assembly that also honoured the outgoing secretary-general, Kofi Annan of Ghana, 68, whose second five-year term ends on December 31.
"By strengthening the three pillars of our United Nations -- security, development and human rights -- we can build a more peaceful, more prosperous and more just world for succeeding generations," Ban told ambassadors from U.N. member-states and other dignitaries.
"As we pursue our collective endeavour to reach that goal, my first priority will be to restore trust. I will seek to act as a harmoniser and bridge-builder," Ban said, adding that world governments required a "dynamic and courageous" United Nations and not one that was "passive and fearful."
Key tasks will include injecting new life into a "sometimes weary" secretariat staff and setting "the highest ethical standard." Annan's tenure was stained by findings of corruption and mismanagement in the $64 billion oil-for-food program for Iraq and in U.N. procurement.
Ban's wife, Yoo Soon-taek, sat next to Annan's wife, Nane, in the audience as Assembly President Sheika Haya Rashed Al Khalifa administered the oath of office.
In delivering the oath, Ban swore "not to seek or accept instructions in regard to the performance of my duties from any government or other authority external to the organisation."
Special guests included Han Seung-soo, under whom Ban served as chief of staff when Han served as General Assembly president in 2001-2002.
A former foreign minister, Ban was selected by the 15-member U.N. Security Council in October and then approved by the General Assembly as the first Asian head of the organisation in 35 years.
LITTLE KNOWN ABOUT POLICIES
But little is known about Ban's policies or future appointments, particularly compared to his high-profile predecessor, who travelled widely and spoke out on world issues, sometimes to the chagrin of the United States.
Quiet and unassuming, Ban has made few missteps during his long career as a Korean diplomat.
John Bolton, the outgoing U.S. ambassador, an early Ban supporter, made clear he wanted more of a secretary than a general by saying repeatedly the U.N. Charter described the job only as the world body's "chief administrative officer."
But in an interview with Reuters after his election, Ban cautioned those who called him low-key not to mistake him for a pushover. "I may look low-key or (be) soft-spoken but that does not mean that I lack leadership or commitment," he said.
Asians consider modesty and humility virtues, he said, but should not be misunderstood because "I take decisive decisions whenever it is necessary."
Ban will start his five-year term in what Annan has called the world's most impossible job with a daunting agenda that stretches from the threats of nuclear proliferation and terrorism to reform of the United Nations management.
But the future secretary-general showed he could poke fun at himself at a U.N. correspondents dinner, acknowledging that journalists in Seoul called him "Slippery Eel" while in New York they referred to him as a "Teflon diplomat."
"These names may reflect different cultures," Ban said. "But they all point to one and the same thing: When I want to, I will elude you as masterfully as any secret agent."
Borrowing from the Christmas carol "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," he crooned: "I'm making a list, I'm checking it twice, I'm going to find out who's naughty or nice. Ban Ki-Moon is coming to town."
Well, that's certainly a positive sign. It remains to be seen what kind of leader he will be, but at least Bolton's support suggests that all the other electable candidates must have been worse.
I don't know about this. It sounds too much like Ba[r] Ki[ng] Moon[bat].
Nothing will change!
It wasn't by chance that he was selected for the job. He was selected because as a graduate of the JFK School of Government, he is fully qualified to continue to guide the UN to it's ultimate goal of global donination unity and slavery peace for all mankind. It is quite possible that he will voluntarily hand over control of the organization to another man well before his own term of office expires. That man will be the Anti Christ.
Got bad news for the both of them:
God Wins.
Does Kofi move to NY City now and run for the US Senate, such as Hillary??
His name is almost as interesting as Boutros Boutros-Ghali's.
COAL FOR IRAN AND NORTH KOREA!
ExSoldier - not from the UN, it's a powerless body. A number of characters arrive before that fiend anyway, still a ways to go.
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