South Korean set to become next UN Secretary-General
The Security Council has officially nominated South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-Moon to be the next UN secretary-general, the council president announced today.
“The Security Council has just recommended to the General Assembly that Mr Ban Ki-Moon be appointed secretary-general of the United Nations on January 1 when Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s second five-year term expires,” Japan’s UN Ambassador Kenzo Oshima told reporters after the council voted at a private meeting.
Under the UN Charter, the 15-member Security Council makes a recommendation for the next secretary-general to the 192-member General Assembly, which must give final approval.
Ki-Moon said he would work to resolve the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear programme after the communist country said it conducted an unprecedented atomic test.
If, as expected, he is appointed to the top job at the global body, Ban said he would “contribute as much as I can to the resolution of all kinds of problems including the North Korean nuclear issue that may threaten international peace and security”.
“This should be a moment of joy. But instead, I stand here with a very heavy heart.
“Despite the concerted warning from the international community, North Korea has gone ahead with a nuclear test.”
North Korea said earlier today it had conducted its first-ever nuclear test, defying international pleas against such a move.
Ban called North Korea’s move an “act of provocation” that showed it had discarded a previous agreement at international arms talks and went against a UN Security Council resolution in July that condemned a series of missile tests.
He said South Korea would “be firm and resolute in adhering to the principle of no tolerance of a nuclear North Korea”.
“In close cooperation and consultation with the countries concerned and the international community, we will seek firm and strong measures so as to get North Korea to abandon all of its nuclear weapons and related programmes.”
