American Buddhist Net

There are credible reports that Ban Ki-moon is a member of the Unification Church run by Rev. Sun Myung Moon. The Unification Church owns both the Washington Times and United Press International, and has close ties to the Bush administration. If anyone can verify the story about Ban Ki-moon's religious affiliation--he calls himself a "non-denominational Christian"--please let us know. We make no judgment one way or the other about Ban or the "Moonies," but we do believe the public has the right to know to which religious group he belongs. ABN
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The case for South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon to become the next UN Secretary General is founded, his supporters say, on his skills as a consummate mediator and a world-class administrator.

The world's top powers seem to agree, casting aside concerns he may be too low-profile and too uncharismatic to lead in difficult times.

In his own words, Mr Ban sees himself as a "harmoniser, balancer, mediator".

During the long selection process, he has talked much of reforming the UN - how the organisation must promise less and deliver more.

LINK TO ORIGINAL

But there has been little on specifics - which commentators say may have been a deliberate move not to tread on toes as his candidacy progressed.

They say it is a strategy honed through his tough, high-wire act of negotiations with North Korea over its development of nuclear weapons.

And it is a strategy that has apparently succeeded - the man who seemed to be many people's second choice winning, by consensus, a post that the current Secretary General Kofi Annan has called the "world's most impossible job".

The BBC's Charles Scanlon in Seoul says Mr Ban would keep his consensual style at the UN - avoiding controversy and favouring the back-room deal over the grand public gesture.

But our correspondent adds that since Mr Ban became foreign minister in January 2004, South Korea has become isolated, with its diplomacy in disarray, and this has fuelled questions over the strength of his leadership and his ability to stand up to US.

Other analysts point to the support Mr Ban has received from China - with which he has had many tough negotiations - and suggest Beijing has seen something in him that may counter US influence.

As Mr Ban himself says: "I may look soft from the outside, but I have inner strength when it's really necessary."

Mr Ban says he draws confidence from recent Korean history.

"We Koreans have quite literally risen from the ashes of war," he says.

"We have done so through hard work, commitment, dedication and the help of friends, particularly the United Nations. Now we stand ready to pay back what we have owed."

Al-Qaeda attacks

Mr Ban has had a long affiliation with the UN, dating back to his time as a staff member of the UN division of the South Korean Home Office in 1975.

He worked as chairman of the preparatory commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation in 1999 while he was South Korean ambassador to Austria.

He also played a role at the heart of the South Korean presidency of the 56th UN General Assembly.

The assembly opened on 12 September 2001 - a day after the al-Qaeda attacks in the United States.

As chef-de-cabinet to the president, his first role was to see through the prompt adoption of the assembly's first resolution - condemning the attacks.

Mr Ban then oversaw procedural changes which, his government says, allowed assembly sessions to proceed smoothly in a time of crisis.

Human rights

Mr Bann was born in Chungju in Chungcheong province on 13 June 1944.

He graduated from the Department of International Relations at Seoul University in 1970 and later worked at the South Korean mission to the UN in New York.

Mr Ban became national security adviser to the president in 1996 and took the office of vice minister in 2000.

He has played a leading role in six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions. But during his tenure as foreign minister, his country has also been criticised for its noncommittal approach to North Korea's human rights record.

Mr Ban is married to Yoo Soon-taek, who he first met when they were high school students in 1962. They have one son and two daughters.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/5401856.stm

Published: 2006/10/03 11:49:12 GMT

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