Ban Ki-moon supports THAAD deployment
Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his wife Yoo Soon-taek receive their resident ID cards at a community center in Sadang-dong, Dongjak-gu in southern Seoul, Friday. / Korea Times Photo by Shin Sang-soon
By Rachel Lee
Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is throwing his full support behind the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here.
“Economic policies could be altered, but it’s not the case when it comes to national security,” Ban said. “Concerns are growing over China’s retaliation against the THAAD deployment, but it could be resolved diplomatically.”
He made the remarks during a flight back home from New York, Wednesday.
However, regarding criticism that he backed a controversial deal between Korea and Japan over the latter’s wartime sex slavery after it was agreed to in December 2015, he said his backing was about the two countries’ efforts to settle a disputed issue through negotiations.
“I lauded the two nations for concluding a difficult deal through negotiation,” he said. “My praise was not about the deal itself.”
Return money to Japan?
Speaking about Japan’s protest against a new comfort woman statue set up outside the Japanese Consulate in Busan, Ban said Korea should return the money ― 1 billion won ($8.5 million) Japan offered for the sex slavery victims ― if the compensation stipulates the statue should not be set up there.
“Victims should be taken into consideration in resolving the matter,” Ban said.
Referring to his phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Dec. 25, Ban said the two nations should settle the historical matters including the sexual enslavement issue in a fair way.
Ban, however, disagreed with the perception of him having no expertise on economics, emphasizing his role of developing a framework for the world economy as a former U.N. secretary-general ― including the Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals.
“This was the first time for the U.N. to come up with a blueprint for the future, including measures to overcome poverty and climate change, since World War II,” Ban said. “And I believe the Korean economy should follow such flow.”
He echoed the view of the other strong contender, Moon Jae-in, similar to his reform plans for the country’s big companies, or chaebol. Moon, the former chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), made the pledge to end chaebol corruption and curb their political power, Tuesday.
“Reform seems unavoidable,” Ban said. “SMEs had no choice but to work as subcontractors due to the overwhelming influence of chaebol. It has been impossible for SMEs to implement original ideas because of such structure.”
If he is elected President, Ban said he could improve the country’s sovereign rating immediately, making Korea a reliable investment destination and business partner.
“For the last 10 years as the general-secretary, I have met thousands of heads of states and learned about successes and failures experienced by countries around the world,” Ban said. “With what I have experienced and learned from the leaders, I feel confident I can do a better job than anyone else.”
According to pollster Realmeter, Thursday, Moon posted support of 27.9 percent this week, up 1.1 percentage points week-on-week, followed by Ban with 20.3 percent and Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung with 11.3 percent. Ban’s popularity fell 1.2 percentage points after his brother and nephew were recently indicted on bribery charges in New York, the pollster said.
The presidential election could take place in the first half of the year instead of in December if the Constitutional Court delivers a guilty verdict for President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment. Should this happen, the country has to elect a new leader within 60 days.