Profile Ban Ki-Moon:Inspired by a childhood meeting with JFK, Kofi Annan's quiet successor is set to make a big noise on the world stage, writes Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent.
Ban Ki-Moon, the quiet, unassuming diplomat who is about to become Secretary-General of the United Nations, was born at Eumseong, South Korea, in June 1944. Prior to his appointment, Eumseong was best-known as the location of "Large Face Park". This is an open-air sculpture exhibition, featuring individuals who have left their mark on the world, including John Lennon, Che Guevara, Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton. There is a "baddies" section, with Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden, Idi Amin and, of course, Kim Il-sung, who died in 1994 but remains as "Eternal President" of North Korea.
Ban Ki-Moon hasn't made it into the park yet, but it shouldn't be long, as he is definitely a "Large Face" at this stage. When he takes over his new job, he will be the world's number one civil servant, with monarchs, presidents and prime ministers, not to mention the rest of us, hanging on his every word, at least at times of crisis.
And crises there certainly will be. Already several are looming, if not in full flow. Iraq has been at boiling-point for at least the past year. The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating: the Taliban hasn't gone away, you know. Darfur looks grim, with government leaders in Khartoum accused of killing their own citizens and refusing to let the UN send in peacekeepers to stop the slaughter. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict rages, while Lebanon teeters on the brink of another civil war. And then there's the aforementioned North Korea, where "Peerless Leader" Kim Jong-il, son of the "Eternal President", recently claimed to have tested his first nuclear weapon. Daddy would be so proud.
The world will look to Ban Ki-Moon for insight, guidance and comfort as these and other issues threaten our peace and quiet. So it is more than a matter of academic interest to determine, what manner of man is this?
Bill Clinton has claimed that a boyhood meeting with John Fitzgerald Kennedy at the White House led him to abandon his ambitions for a musical career and devote his life to politics. Likewise, Ban Ki-Moon won a trip from South Korea to meet JFK at the White House, in a competition sponsored by the American Red Cross. He says that, as a result, he decided to become a diplomat.
Attending university in Seoul, he took a Bachelor's degree in international relations and subsequently received a Master's in public administration from - where else? - the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Unlike his predecessor, Kofi Annan, who rose through the ranks of the UN bureaucracy, most of Ban Ki-Moon's experience was acquired working as a diplomat for his own government. He joined the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May 1970. This was shortly before president Park Chung Hee put in place the Yusin Constitution which was passed in a rigged plebiscite and gave the head of state enormous powers amounting to a virtual dictatorship, which lasted until Park was assassinated in October 1979.
All this time, Ban was working his way up the ladder. New Delhi was his first foreign posting and, on his return to headquarters, he served in the UN division of the foreign ministry. Ban was in New York at the time of the assassination, working as a first secretary in South Korea's mission at the UN.
HIS CAREER HAS three main elements: the diplomatic service, the United Nations and the US. He returned to the UN division in Seoul as its director before going on to serve on two occasions in the Washington DC embassy. He fattened his CV with such other positions as director-general for American affairs, deputy minister for policy planning and international organisations, national security advisor to the president, vice-minister, ambassador to Austria and presidential foreign policy advisor.
When South Korea's Dr Han Seung-soo was president of the UN General Assembly in the critical year of 2001-02, under the shadow of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Ban served as his chef de cabinet. He was minister of foreign affairs and trade from January 2004 until November 1st this year. In this role he played a leading part in bringing about the six-party talks - involving both parts of Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the US - aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.
He stepped down as foreign minister almost three weeks after the UN General Assembly had, by acclamation, approved his appointment as Secretary-General. This was on October 13th, four days after the Security Council decided Ban was their man.
It was the culmination of an eight-month campaign which began with the announcement of his candidacy in February. This was the first time a South Korean had campaigned for the post. Ban's ability to please a wide range of important players at the UN was evident in each of the four straw polls held by the 15-member Security Council in the months leading up to its formal decision.
Ban topped the poll every time and, in the last one, held on October 2nd, received 14 votes, with Japan the only member having "no opinion". Five council members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the US - have permanent seats as well as veto powers, and all of them favoured the contender from Eumseong. East River insiders admired Ban's highly effective campaign.
"He realised it was not a beauty contest, but more a matter of the slow, patient work of building support among member-states. He knows how to go about building coalitions of support and he will bring that strategic vision and consensus-building quality to his role as Secretary-General," says a well-placed diplomatic observer.
'HE'LL NEED ALL these skills to tackle the challenging agenda at the UN, and to heal the rifts in the international community. He has said that he will focus on management reform, and getting the UN into good administrative shape. After a hectic pace of reform, it's probably a good time for the organisation to catch its breath and focus on reforming its own internal management and structures," the same source adds.
In this age of the in-your-face public figure, Ban comes across as very much the quiet man. He has said that he has "his own kind of charisma". A diplomatic source explains: "His modesty and self-effacement reflect the culture from which he comes, and should not count against him. The election campaign showed that he is both determined and astute. He has the advantage of having broad support among both the developed countries - including the US - and developing countries which see South Korea as a model of how a country can grow its economy and become a significant player on the world stage."
Despite taking over a very serious job, the new boss at New York's Turtle Bay has his lighter side. At the annual ball of the UN Correspondents' Association on December 8th, he stole the show from fellow guests Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan when he joked that he was variously known among reporters as "the Slippery Eel" and "the Teflon Diplomat". He followed this with a parody of the well-known Christmas carol, about making a list and checking it twice and finding out who was naughty or nice, because "Ban Ki-Moon is coming to town". It was not immediately clear who would be on the list, whether journalists, UN officials or miscreant member-states - possibly all three.
Ban Ki-Moon is married to Yoo Soon-Taek. They were high-school sweethearts and the couple have one son and two daughters. As his official biography rather charmingly puts it: "She has been his best partner throughout his many turns." There will doubtless be many more turns during his tenure as Secretary-General.
TheBanFile
Who is he?
Ban Ki-Moon, former South Korean foreign minister
Why is he in the news?
He succeeds Kofi Annan as United Nations Secretary-General on New Year's Day
Most appealing characteristic:
Long experience of the diplomatic circuit
Least appealing characteristic:
Too quiet and unassuming for such a tough job, say critics
Most likely to say:
"The UN has to walk the walk and not just talk the talk"
Least likely to say:
"Let's not get too excited about North Korea having nuclear weapons"