Ban Ki-moon

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Ban Ki-moon bigraphy, stories - South Jorean politicians Current Secretary-General of the United Nations

Ban Ki-moon : biography

13 June 1944 –

Ban Ki-moon ( born 13 June 1944) is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before becoming Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he graduated from university, accepting his first post in New Delhi, India. In the foreign ministry, he established a reputation for modesty and competence.

Ban was the foreign minister of South Korea from January 2004 to November 2006. In February 2006, he began to campaign for the office of Secretary-General. Ban was initially considered to be a long shot for the office. As foreign minister of South Korea, however, he was able to travel to all of the countries that were members of the United Nations Security Council, a maneuver that turned him into the front runner.

On 11 October 2006, he was elected to be the eighth Secretary-General by the United Nations General Assembly and officially succeeded Annan on 1 January 2007. Ban has led several major reforms regarding peacekeeping and UN employment practices. Diplomatically, Ban has taken particularly strong views on Darfur, where he helped persuade Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to allow peacekeeping troops to enter Sudan; and on global warming, pressing the issue repeatedly with former U.S. President George W. Bush. Ban has received strong criticism from OIOS, the UN internal audit unit, stating that the secretariat, under Ban’s leadership, is "drifting into irrelevance".

In 2011, Ban ran unopposed for a second term as Secretary-General. On 21 June 2011, he was unanimously re-elected by the General Assembly and therefore will continue to serve until 31 December 2016.

Honors and awards

  • Ban Ki-moon was awarded the Order of Service Merit, 1st class, by the government of South Korea on three occasions: in 1975, 1986 and 2006.
  • For his accomplishments as an envoy, he received the Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Star (4th Cl.) for Services to the Republic of Austria in 2001
  • He was bestowed the Grand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco by the government of Brazil.
  • : Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun (Gran Cruz del Sol) (2006)
  • He was honored with James A. Van Fleet Award by the Korea Society in New York City for his contributions to friendship between the United States and South Korea.
  • Ban Ki-moon, in his capacity as Secretary-General of the United Nations, was one of the Olympic Flag carriers of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.
  • : National Order of Merit of Algeria
  • Commemorative Medal of Freedom Heroes of the Republic of Hungary
  • : Grand Cross with Silver Star of the Order of Jose Matias Delgado
  • : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Sikatuna
  • : Order of Friendship, 1st class (2010)
  • : Order of Ismoili Samoni – 2010
  • : Grand Cross of the National Order of Burkina Faso (2008)
  • : Grand Officer of the National Order of Ivory Coast (2008)
  • : Grand Cross of the Order of Saint-Charles (2013) Sovereign Ordonnance

Honorary degrees

  • Honorary doctorate in Human Letters degree of Fairleigh Dickinson University on September 10, 2008
  • Honorary doctorate from Seoul National University (2008)
  • Doctor Honoris Causa by the National University of San Marcos, the main university in Peru and the oldest of the Americas (2011).
  • Doctor of Laws Degree Honoris Causa by the University of the Philippines College of Law, the national university of the country, in 2008.
  • Honorary Doctor by the National University of Mongolia in 2009.
  • Doctors of Letters" by Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi
  • Honorary doctorates in law from the University of Malta (2009) and the University of Washington (2009)
  • Honorary doctorate of public service from Denver University (2013)

Early life and education