Ban Ki-moon as mediator

By Shim Jae-yun

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon may be one of the most popular figures in the world, alongside Pope Francis. Both have been nominated as candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize. A recent survey by the Daily UNN, a newspaper for university students and faculty members across the nation, found that Korean university students respected Ban more than any other public figure. (The survey took place in August and September, used both online and offline methods, and involved 1,906 respondents.) There is also speculation that Ban may run in the presidential election slated for 2017.

As a correspondent, I covered the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, from 2004-2005. At that time, Ban was President Roh Moo-hyun’s senior aide in charge of diplomatic and security affairs. The Roh administration drew severe criticism back then ― those of us in the media, in particular, said Cheong Wa Dae staffers lacked professionalism and frequently bungled responses to our questions.

Ban was an exception, however. He was the only presidential staffer to get a round of applause from journalists upon finishing a press briefing.

Such cases are rare, as journalists are notorious for being stingy with praise ― especially for government officials. Even so, we gave Ban high marks for showing clear insight into the pressing issues of the day, and for explaining those issues to us in a reasonable and kind manner.

Thanks to his achievements as the presidential aide, he leaped into the role of foreign minister and eventually assumed his current post as head of the United Nations.

Ban’s popularity appears to have prompted North Korea, probably the most reclusive state on Earth, into action. There has been speculation that on Sept. 27, Pyongyang invited Ban to visit the North via a letter from Kim Jong-un conveyed through North Korea’s Foreign Minister, Ri Su-yong, in New York.

The North denies that was the case, however, saying the letter was a response to an earlier message from Ban, supposedly congratulating North Korea on the anniversary of its founding, which fell Sept. 9. The incident suggests that North Korea may be attempting to expand its diplomatic scope in the international community.

The North has been struggling to cope with increasing economic difficulties in the wake of souring relations with its ally China, as well as with the United States. Ri recently made a rare appearance at the United Nations and clarified the North’s policy: that it would pursue dialogue and cooperate with other nations to improve human rights, unless those nations were hostile toward the North.

Kang Sok-ju, a secretary of the Workers’ Party, also made a rare visit to Europe in late September. The visits by Ri and Kang can be taken to mean the North is desperate for support from the international community. All this comes as the United Nations is stepping up pressure on the North by seeking to bring its leader to the international court for human rights violations.

For his part, Ban expressed willingness to visit Pyongyang “through consultations with both South and North Korea at an appropriate time” when he visited Seoul in August last year. He also vowed to do everything in his power to achieve progress on inter-Korean relations.

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se recently acknowledged the important role Ban played in improving the regional security situation.

“The ministry is supposed to proactively seek the role of the United Nations and its secretary general [to achieve peace] on the Korean Peninsula,” he said Oct. 7 during a parliamentary audit of the ministry. Yun was answering Rep. Won Yoo-chul of the ruling Saenuri Party, who had called for a trilateral meeting involving Ban, Kim and President Park Geun-hye, to break the impasse in inter-Korean relations and lay the groundwork for unification.

Ban has been busy promoting peace around the globe, including a recent visit to war-torn Gaza. Now expectations are growing for the U.N. chief, and some are hoping that he will assume a mediator role to advance the cause of peace and reconciliation on the peninsula. His active engagement would undoubtedly help, as the two Koreas begin working-level talks to prepare for the envisioned high-level dialogue and military talks.