UN chief 'ambiguously' denies presidential bid

By Kang Seung-woo

Ban Ki-moon

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has stepped in to check growing speculation that he may run for president in 2017.

However, it still remains to be seen if Ban will become a presidential candidate in the next election because he stopped short of ruling out a possible candidacy.

Ban, 70, a former foreign minister, has been thrust into the political limelight of late as the most favored presidential candidate as shown in a recent public poll in which he was ahead of other potential candidates by a large margin.

Ban’s term at the U.N. is scheduled to expire at the end of 2016, about one year ahead of the presidential election.

“Some politicians and media have been carrying reports suggesting Ban is interested in future domestic politics. But he knows nothing at all about these reports and they are not true,“ said a statement, released by his office.

It continued: “Ban has consistently stated his position that it is inappropriate to link the U.N. Secretary General, who is supposed to speak for the interests of the international community from an impartial position, to domestic political issues regardless of his intentions.

“We earnestly ask again for restraint in reports on domestic politics (involving Ban), including opinion surveys.“

The statement added that Ban was deeply grateful for the consistent support of the Korean government and people have given him for the past eight years and he will do his best to carry out his duties as U.N. head.

Yoon Hee-woong, the head of Min Consulting, a public opinion research firm, said Ban’s statement was conventional rhetoric that sitting governors or mayors make when they are referred to as a presidential candidate.

“The statement means that the Ban camp does not rule out the possibility of him running for president and plans to decide on his candidacy in the future after considering the shaky political situation,” he said.

At a seminar held last week by Saenuri Party lawmakers, comprising confidants of President Park Geun-hye, the U.N. chief was mentioned as a possible presidential candidate for the party. Countering this, an adviser to the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) said Monday that one of Ban’s aides had sounded out the possibility of him running for president on the NPAD ticket.

“It is ridiculous that the pro-Park lawmakers are proposing Ban to contain emerging Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung,“ said Prof. Choi Chang-ryul of Yongin University.