Ban Ki-moon

In this Korean name, the family name is Ban.

Ban Ki-moon
반기문
Ban in 2016
8th Secretary-General of the United Nations
In office
1 January 2007 – 31 December 2016
Deputy
Preceded byKofi Annan
Succeeded byAntónio Guterres
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
In office
17 January 2004 – 1 December 2006
PresidentRoh Moo-hyun
Preceded byYoon Young-kwan
Succeeded bySong Min-soon
Personal details
Born (1944-06-13) 13 June 1944 (age 80)
Insei, Chūseihoku-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan
Political partyIndependent
Spouse
Yoo Soon-taek
​
(m. 1971)​
Children3
Education
Signature
Ban Ki-moon's voice
Ban addressing the Universal Postal Union
Recorded 13 April 2015
Ban Ki-moon voice.ogg
Korean name
Hangul
반기문
Hanja
潘基文
Revised RomanizationBan Gimun
McCune–ReischauerPan Kimun
IPA[panɡimun]

Ban Ki-moon (Korean: 반기문; [pan.ɡi.mun]; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister of foreign affairs and trade between 2004 and 2006. Ban was initially considered to be a long shot for the office of Secretary-General of the United Nations; he began to campaign for the office in February 2006. As the foreign minister of South Korea, he was able to travel to all the countries on the United Nations Security Council, a manoeuvre that subsequently turned him into the campaign's front-runner.

On 13 October 2006, Ban was elected as the eighth secretary-general by the United Nations General Assembly. On 1 January 2007, he succeeded Kofi Annan. As secretary-general, he was responsible for several major reforms on peacekeeping and UN employment practices around the world. Diplomatically, Ban has taken particularly strong views on global warming, pressing the issue repeatedly with U.S. President George W. Bush, and on the Darfur conflict, where he helped persuade Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir to allow peacekeeping troops to enter Sudan.[1][2] Ban was named the world's 32nd most powerful person by the Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People in 2013, the highest among South Koreans.[3] In 2014, he was named the third most powerful South Korean after Lee Kun-hee and Lee Jae-yong.[4] In 2016, Foreign Policy named Ban one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers for his achievement of helping the Paris Agreement to be ratified and enforced less than a year after it was adopted.[5]

António Guterres was appointed by the General Assembly on 13 October 2016 to be the successor of Ban Ki-moon as he exited on 31 December 2016.[6] He was widely considered to be a potential candidate for the 2017 South Korean presidential election,[7] before announcing, on 1 February, that he would not be running.[8] On 14 September 2017, Ban was elected chair of the International Olympic Committee's Ethics Commission.[9] Also in 2017, Ban co-founded the nonprofit Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens. He also currently serves as the Distinguished Chair Professor at Yonsei University's Institute for Global Engagement and Empowerment.[10]

On 20 February 2018, Ban was unanimously elected as the President of the Assembly and Chair of the Council by all members of the Assembly and Council, respectively, the two governance organs of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), a treaty-based international, inter-governmental organization dedicated to supporting and promoting environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive economic growth in developing countries and emerging economies. Since Ban's election as the President and Chair, GGGI's list of Member States has expanded from 27 to 48 Member Countries and Regional Integration Organizations. On 16 October 2018, the Global Commission on Adaptation was launched with Ban as co-chair, together with Bill Gates and Kristalina Georgieva.[11] The commission's mandate to accelerate adaptation by elevating the political visibility of adaptation and focusing on concrete solutions came to an end following its Year of Action in 2020, with its work showcased at the Climate Adaptation Summit hosted by the Netherlands on 25 January 2021.[12] Ban currently serves as co-chair for the Global Center on Adaptation,[13] which is taking forward the commission's work through its programs.[14] He became the first major international diplomat to throw his weight behind the Green New Deal, a nascent effort by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party in the United States to zero out planet-warming emissions and end poverty over the next decade.[15]

  1. ^ Suzanne Goldenberg (27 January 2011). "Ban Ki-moon ends hands-on involvement in climate change talks". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  2. ^ Lynch, Colum (17 April 2007). "Sudan To Allow U.N. Force in Darfur". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Ban Ki-moon". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013.
  4. ^ "The World's Most Powerful People". Forbes. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  5. ^ "FP Global Thinkers 2016". Foreign Policy. 12 December 2016. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  6. ^ "António Guterres appointed next UN Secretary-General by acclamation". UN News Centre. 13 October 2016. Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  7. ^ "With an Eye on South Korea's Presidency, Ban Ki-moon Seeks to Burnish his U.N. Legacy". Foreign Policy. 28 December 2016. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  8. ^ Cheng, Jonathan (1 February 2017). "Ban Ki-moon Drops Out of South Korean Presidential Race". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  9. ^ "IOC elects former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to head its Ethics Commission". 29 April 2021. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  10. ^ "Ban Ki-Moon to begin his tenure at Yonsei". Korea JoongAng Daily. 8 June 2017. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  11. ^ "The U.N.'s Climate Report Shows How Badly Wrong Leaders Like Trump Have Got Climate Change". Time. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  12. ^ Hub, IISD's SDG Knowledge. "Climate Adaptation Summit Launches Adaptation Action Agenda 2030 | News | SDG Knowledge Hub | IISD". Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Leadership & Governance". Global Center on Adaptation. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  14. ^ "The Global Commission on Adaptation". Global Center on Adaptation. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Former UN Leader Ban Ki-moon Just Endorsed Democrats' Fight for a Green New Deal". Huffingtonpost. 25 January 2019. Archived from the original on 18 March 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.