Who will head the UN?
Ban Ki-moon, South Korea
Ban is South Korea's minister of foreign affairs and trade.
Born June 13, 1944, Ban has a bachelor's degree in international relations from Seoul National University and a master's degree in public administration from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
'Minister Ban's first overseas posting was in New Delhi, where he was able to acquire first-hand experience on development issues. His bilateral assignments also include two terms at South Korea's embassy in Washington, DC. He was appointed national security advisor to the President in 1996. He became vice minister in 2000. His most recent assignment was as foreign policy advisor to the President,' says a biography.
'Minister Ban has nurtured longstanding ties with the United Nations,' it continues, 'dating back to 1975 during his days as a staff member of the UN Division at home office.'
He served at the South Korean mission to the UN in New York, and was ambassador to Vienna, 'where he served as chairman of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation in 1999.'
Ban, his web site says, 'is married to Madam Yoo Soon-taek. They first met as high school students in 1962. She has been his best partner throughout his many turns. They have one son and two daughters.'
He is also deeply involved in the six-nation talks with North Korea on its nuclear weapons programme.
And that, according to Foreign Affairs magazine, could be a problem.
'Some argue the nuclear talks are so important, the Security Council might prefer that he stay on the Korean Peninsula and see the negotiations through, without the distraction of the rest of the world's problems. Plus, Asia isn't united behind Ban's bid; Southeast Asia wants one of its own to get the corner office,' the magazine says in a recent article on the UN contenders.
Photograph: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
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