He Might Be UN General Secretary…

by Robert Koehler on July 5, 2008

in South Korea

but he’s still his mother’s little boy.

{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Peter July 5, 2008 at 10:14 pm: Interestingly, his wife made a point of visiting the help center for foreign wives in Korea. (See today’s JoongAng.) I know that Ban has been criticized for being a somewhat ineffectual leader, but hopefully he (and his wife) can convince Korea to see itself as a responsible and active participant in the world, and leave behind its hermit past.
2 dogbert July 5, 2008 at 11:54 pm: Banky ajeosshi is so CUTE! Of course everyone just wants to hug him.
3 pawikirogi July 6, 2008 at 1:28 am: i’ve read that ban is an effective leader which he most certainly is.

‘but hopefully he (and his wife) can convince Korea to see itself as a responsible and active participant in the world, and leave behind its hermit past.’

you need to get over yourself. you aren’t the center of the world.
4 andy-in-japan July 6, 2008 at 1:33 am: “you need to get over yourself. you aren’t the center of the world.”

Be nice to Peter, he forgets that Korea is the center of the Ptolemaic universe.
5 Juicius July 6, 2008 at 4:08 am: Son made good returning to hometown to pay respect to parents is a time-worn tradition pretty much everywhere. It’s more cliched than most in Korea, however. good for the mom though. Given her age, she’s probably seen more strife than most and she’s doubtlessly very proud of her son.
6 sanshinseon July 6, 2008 at 5:03 pm: Yup, Gawd, just imagine living thru WW2 and then the Korean War, and then Rhee’s era and the military dictatorships — and then having your son become UN Sec-Gen… she’s gotta be one proud Mom, one proud Korean, with every right.
7 Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog) July 6, 2008 at 5:07 pm: I’ve read that ban is an effective leader which he most certainly is.

Give us three — better yet, give us one — example of Ban Ki-Moon’s alleged leadership on an issue of global concern while he’s been the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The guy’s a total zero. I thought he’d been kidnapped, so complete has been the silence out of the Ban corner.

Now, I myself am anti-United Nations, so this bothers me not so much. But then I’m not proclaiming Ban Ki-Moon some great world leader.
8 basilides July 6, 2008 at 6:00 pm: To #7: Well, at least we have this (from “the Korea Times”):

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged North Korea Friday to address its human rights situation, calling it “unacceptable.”

“I think that North Korea should also take necessary steps to improve their human rights situation,” Ban, who is on a visit to his homeland for the first time since taking office at the United Nations 18 months ago, said in a press conference in Seoul.
9 pawikirogi July 6, 2008 at 8:26 pm: ‘Give us three…’

nah, i don’t think so. better to let you stew in your hatred.
10 abcdefg July 6, 2008 at 8:59 pm: During the time of the Chinese earthquakes and the cyclone that hit Myanmar a month ago, Ban Ki Moon was all over the news, doing interviews on PBS, BBC, NPR, etc, giving speeches, and traveling to China and elsewhere to handle negotiations.

He comes off as an earnest, eloquent man.
11 Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog) July 6, 2008 at 9:03 pm: He does come off as an earnest, eloquent man. That’s not the rap on Ban Ki-Moon. It’s that he comes off as an earnest, eloquent, completely bland man, in a role where he’s expected to use a the supposed moral authority of the UN to impel international cooperation.

I missed him all over the news on the earthquake and cyclone stories. But I’ve been busy. Thanks for the update.
12 abcdefg July 6, 2008 at 9:10 pm: “completely bland” is merely subjective — and that coming from you doesn’t say much.

Anyway, I think his “blandness” and his rather careful command of English gives to him a rather Mandela-esque quality. Certainly not your average Joe or politician and undeniably respectable.

His mom may or may not be very very proud of him but, hey, I am.
13 SusieQ July 6, 2008 at 10:05 pm: #7 – “anti-United Nations”?

Just what does that mean exactly?
Scrap the UN Charter?
14 Sperwer July 6, 2008 at 10:43 pm: His mom may or may not be very very proud of him but, hey, I am.

Well that’s certainly reassuring and a convincing argument that he’s using his position effectively.
15 JohnT July 7, 2008 at 7:33 am: You’re one to talk there draft dodger pawi.
16 Siddhartha July 7, 2008 at 2:40 pm: #11
At least he does have a corrput son who profit from the UN. Time to tell if he is effective or not..
17 Netizen Kim July 8, 2008 at 4:42 am: He does come off as an earnest, eloquent man. That’s not the rap on Ban Ki-Moon. It’s that he comes off as an earnest, eloquent, completely bland man, in a role where he’s expected to use a the supposed moral authority of the UN to impel international cooperation.

I don’t know of any UN General Secretary thus far that didn’t fit that description.

It’s easier to be a more “colorful” world figure if your name is Chavez or Kim Jong Il or George Bush and didn’t have to worry about offending the sensibilities of any and every nation in the world.
18 WangKon936 July 8, 2008 at 5:01 am: # 17,

I too would also agree that it probably takes a man less passionate and more analytical to be head of the UN, given that the UN has no power and depends on the funds of member nations.
19 slim July 8, 2008 at 5:18 am: The rap at Turtle Bay is of an earnest and well-intended Ban hampered by frequently faulty English and suffering communication problems and other friction with the wider UN because his inner circle are all secretive Korean bureaucrats with their own management style. I report this with more sympathy for Ban than for the UN management style.
20 Won Joon Choe July 8, 2008 at 5:40 am: #12,

Ban as “eloquent”? You’ve got to be kidding me. He doesn’t even speak fluent, intelligible English. (And he doesn’t sound heck of a lot better in Korean.) He’s an unimaginative bureaucrat who got to where he is now because he was willing to spread his legs for Roh’s extreme leftist, anti-American cronies–instead of offering intelligent counter-points like his predecessor at the Foreign Ministry.
21 Won Joon Choe July 8, 2008 at 5:50 am: Oops. My last post was directed at post #10, not #12 (though they are to the same poster.)

Also, post #12 describing Ban’s “Mandela-esque quality” is also from way, way out on the left field–certainly not from the real world but a phantasmagorical world of lunatic Korean nationalism-making.
22 Won Joon Choe July 8, 2008 at 5:54 am: And finally, I cannot say I am proud of Ban. There are current and former Korean servants who are far more thoughtful and can certainly speak better English (e.g. Han Sungjoo), and I wish they could have “represented” Korea.
23 Won Joon Choe July 8, 2008 at 5:55 am: Christ! I meant “public servants,” not “servants”–though the latter designation is not too off-the-mark with Ban.