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After ten years of an often successful yet equally tumultuous tenure at the helm of the United Nations, Ghanaian Secretary General Kofi Annan retired on December 31, 2006. The next day, on January 1, 2007, Ban Ki-Moon left his post as the Foreign Minister of South Korea and was sworn in as eighth Secretary General of the U.N. in Manhattan, New York.

Ban Ki-Moon, born in 1944 in North Chuncheong, Korea, has followed a steady path up the diplomatic ladder to his new post as Secretary General. He received his B.A. in International Relations from Seoul National University in 1970, and his M.A. in Public Service Administration in 1985 from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.1 Ban has stated that meeting former U.S. President Kennedy inspired him to pursue a career in international diplomacy, one in which he has most definitely thrived. Before his most recent stint as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the Republic of (South) Korea, Ban held numerous posts in Korean diplomacy as well as the international scene. He holds long standing ties to the U.N., dating back to 1975 when he worked for the Foreign Ministry’s U.N. division. He also has served as the first secretary at South Korea’s permanent mission to the U.N. in New York and as the director of the U.N. division at the Ministry’s headquarters in Seoul. Ban has spent time as a diplomat in Washington D.C. as well as in Vienna, where he was the South Korean ambassador to Austria. Making him appealing for the top U.N. post is Ban’s career focus on working towards peace on the Korean peninsula, along with efforts towards denuclearization. He has served in that regard as the Vice-Chair of the South-North Joint Nuclear Control Commission, helped as the Foreign Minister in adoption of the Joint Statement on Resolving the North Korean Nuclear Issue at the Six Party Talk, and worked as Chairman of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, again with ties to the U.N.2 Foremost among the numerous national and international awards garnered by Mr. Ban is the Republic of Korea’s Highest Order of Service Merit for service to his country, awarded to him in 1975, 1986, and 2006.3

Voted upon every five years, the Secretary General of the U.N. is essentially the lead diplomat, advocate, civil servant, and CEO of the United Nations. Initially described on the organization’s charter in a rather ambiguous manner as simply the “chief administrative officer,” the position’s definition has grown both officially and symbolically since its inception. Among other things, the Secretary General is allowed to bring to attention of the Security Council any matter he feels may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security, giving him substantial power in determining the goings on of the organization’s most important body. His day to day work includes attendance at all of the various U.N. bodies’ sessions, consultations with world leaders and government officials, and regular worldwide travel. In addition, every year the Secretary General delivers a report appraising the work of the U.N. and outlining future priorities for the immediate year and years ahead.

Having announced he would retire at the end of his second five year term as has become standard among Secretary Generals, Kofi Annan left the door open for the many desiring to succeed him. Ban’s campaign began in February 2006 with his announcement of his intention to run, and followed a relatively smooth ride to success. He topped all four of the informal straw polls given to the Security Council, making him the clear early favorite. He subsequently went on to receive 14 yes and 1 no opinion votes by the Council, making him the only of the six candidates to receive no veto votes from any of the five permanent members of the Security Council. Many of his competitors consequently withdrew their candidacies, and on October 9th Ban was chosen as the Security Council’s official nominee. Following the Security Council’s selection of a nominee, U.N. procedure dictates the nominee is then sent to the U.N. General Assembly, where on October 13th, the Assembly’s 192 nations adopted a resolution, by acclamation, appointing Ban as the Secretary General-elect.

Ban was thus officially sworn in on January 1st 2007, immediately facing the sort of scrutiny that is inherent in his position. Claiming fluency in English and French as well as his native Korean, Ban also speaks German and Japanese proficiently. Ban had passed a sort of “French only language test” during his candidacy via a lunch with French President Jacques Chirac, important due to the fact that as a permanent member of the Security Council France has maintained it will veto any candidate who does not speak French, one of the bodies’ two generally used languages along with English. Nevertheless, Ban has come under intense fire from the French-speaking press due to his inability to answer questions to their satisfaction at his first press conference given to him in French.4 In this first press conference, Ban was instantly given a preview into the scrutiny and challenges he will face as Secretary General, particularly due to the many recent problems plaguing the organization recently. Among these are the ever increasingly tense relations between the U.N. and its primary contributor, the United States. Anan went so far as to accuse the U.S. and particularly President Bush on several occasions of trying to privately control the U.N. while publicly insulting it and its authority. Additionally, there is the aftermath of the disastrous Iraqi Oil-for-Food scandal, in which implications of misadministration and fund embezzlement were uncovered in 2004, including allegations that the Secretary General’s son himself was involved. Add the efforts by such countries as Iran and North Korea to achieve nuclear proliferation, and the desire to meet such lofty U.N. stated goals as eradicating extreme poverty and working on the AIDS crisis in Africa, and it surmounts to quite a difficult task for Mr. Ban.5 He is only on the first infant weeks of his tenure, and only time will tell the difficulties and successes he will face as the new Secretary General.

1 “Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.” United Nations. 10 Jan. 2007 .

2 “Profile:Ban Ki Moon.” BBC.Com. 10 Jan. 2007 .

3 “Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.” United Nations. 10 Jan. 2007 .

4 Neil, Herland. “Is Ban Ki-Moon a Franco-Phoney?” CBC News 14 Dec. 2006. 10 Jan. 2007 .

5 “An Impossible Job”. New York Times Editorial Desk. October 11, 2006. 26.