Ban Ki-Moon (1944– )

South Korean diplomat, eighth secretary general of the United Nations from 2007. An experienced diplomat and foreign minister of South Korea 2004–06, he was elected secretary general of the UN General Assembly in October 2006, being the only candidate not to receive a ‘no’ vote from one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. He succeeded Kofi Annan in January 2007. A low-profile, uncharismatic figure, he presented himself as a ‘harmonizer, balancer, mediator’.

Born in Chungju in Chungcheong province, Ban studied international relations at Seoul National University and much later gained a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He resolved to be a diplomat after meeting US president John F Kennedy as an 18-year old exchange student in the USA in 1962. He joined South Korea's foreign ministry in 1970 and was a staff member of the UN division in 1975, and was twice posted to the country's embassy in Washington, DC. He was national security adviser to South Korea's president in 1996 and vice-minister in 2000. As foreign minister 2004–06, he played a leading role in six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions.