ED Ban Ki-moon card

Moon should use Korea’s most experienced diplomat

The nation is in diplomatic turmoil. The worst part of it is the so-called Korea passing _ Seoul being bypassed in international efforts to handle North Korea’s missile and nuclear provocations. Now, it is degenerating into the “Moon passing,” depicting President Moon Jae-in’s supposed isolation from its ally, the United States, and its partner, Japan.

To get back into the game and play the role it deserves as main stakeholder in the ongoing crisis, the President should mobilize all that is available. One outstanding resource that is left untapped is Ban Ki-moon, former secretary general of the United Nations.

Korea’s most experienced diplomat has kept a low profile after his short-lived bid for presidency early this year. Ban has been now doing bona fide work, staying away from politics. Lately, Ban declared that he would help whatever he could. “I plan to strive towards creating a future where we can live in peaceful and prosperous societies where human dignity is fully respected …” he said, adding he has finished an eight-month-long reflection on how better to serve Korea.

In other words, if Moon reaches out to Ban for help, the career diplomat is ready. It would also be Ban’s duty as well to chip in for help as well.

For the past 10 years as U.N. chief, he has rubbed shoulders with the world’s leaders. True, there are pros and cons about his job performance. But his credentials make him a member of the group of elders of global politics and his extensive network can help open the doors that would be otherwise closed to Korea.

Ban can help Seoul exert greater influence in dealing with Xi Jinping, leader of China, the North’s only benefactor, and gain more equal say with U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

During his Aug. 15 Liberation Day speech, Moon declared he would not allow war on the Korean Peninsula again. But critics argued that his remarks only alienated him from Trump and Abe, while being ignored by the North and China.

Moon’s national security team is composed of lightweights who may be more suitable for pencil pushing rather than imaginative high-stakes diplomacy.

Moon and Ban were no strangers to each other. The two worked together under the late President Roh Moo-hyun _ Ban presidential adviser and foreign minister, while Moon being on Moon’s side at Cheong Wa Dae.

Ban’s election as U.N. chief is greatly owed to the national endeavor led by Roh. If Moon and his followers still have doubts or worries from the Moon-Ban rivalry dating back to the presidential campaign, they should set them aside and let Ban lead the President’s effort to bring the world on board for his anti-war cause. Moon shouldn’t waste any more time.