William Waldo Cameron Forum on Public Affairs - 2/29/2008
Ban Ki-moon
Mr. Ban is the eighth Secretary-General of the United
Nations and brings to his post 37 years of service both in government and on
the global stage. At the time of his
election as Secretary-General, Mr. Ban was serving as the Republic of Korea’s
(ROK) Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. His long tenure with the ministry included postings
in New Delhi, Washington D.C. and Vienna and responsibility for a variety of
portfolios including Foreign Policy Advisor to the President, Chief National
Security Advisor to the President, Deputy Minister for Policy Planning and
Director-General of American Affairs. Throughout this service, his guiding
vision was that of a peaceful Korean peninsula, playing an expanding role for
peace and prosperity in the region and the wider world.
Mr. Ban has longstanding ties with the United Nations dating
back to 1975 when he worked for the ROK Foreign Ministry’s United Nations
division. That work expanded over the years, with assignments as First
Secretary at the ROK’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New
York, Director of the UN Division at the ministry’s headquarters
in Seoul, and Ambassador to Vienna, during which time he served as
Chairman of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty Organization in 1999. In 2001-2002, as Chef-de-Cabinet during the ROK’s
Presidency of the General Assembly, he facilitated the prompt adoption of the
first resolution of the session which condemned the terrorist attacks of
September 11. Mr. Ban also undertook a
number of initiatives aimed at strengthening the Assembly’s functioning,
thereby helping to turn a session that started out in crisis and confusion into
one in which a number of important reforms were adopted.
Mr. Ban has also been actively involved in issues relating
to inter-Korean relations. In 1992, as Special Advisor to the Foreign Minister,
he served as Vice Chair of the South-North Joint Nuclear Control Commission
following the adoption of the historic Joint Declaration on the
Denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula. In September
2005, as Foreign Minister, he played a leading role in bringing about another
landmark agreement aimed at promoting peace and stability on the Korean
peninsula with the adoption at the Six Party Talks of the Joint Statement on
resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.
Mr. Ban received a bachelor’s degree in international
relations from Seoul
National University
in 1970. In 1985, he earned a master’s degree in public administration from the
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard
University. He has received numerous national and
international prizes, medals, and honors. In 1975, 1986, and again in 2006, he
was awarded the ROK’s Highest Order of Service Merit for service to his
country.
Mr. Ban was born on
June 13, 1944. He and his wife, Madam Yoo (Ban) Soon-taek, whom he met
in high school in 1962, have one son and two daughters. Mr. Ban also speaks English and French.
