S. Korean joins race to become UN's chief By Choe Sang-Hun February 14, 2006 International Herald Tribune Original Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/14/news/un.php SEOUL Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon of South Korea announced Tuesday that he would run for the top job at the United Nations, arguing that his election would help bring new momentum into stalled international efforts to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. Ban, who has presided over South Korea's foreign policy through a rough period in its alliance with the United States, became the third declared candidate in Asia to succeed Kofi Annan as the UN secretary general. Ban's UN candidacy underscored South Korea's desire to charter a bigger role for itself in Asia and beyond. More immediately, the country hopes that the election of Ban, who has spent much of his time in recent years on trying to persuade North Korea to open up, would add more international focus to the North Korean nuclear crisis. If I am elected UN secretary general, I expect that it will have positive effects on efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, Ban told a news conference on Tuesday. Two other Asian candidates had already announced their bids: Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai of Thailand, who says he is supported by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and a former UN disarmament chief, Jayantha Dhanapala from Sri Lanka, who recently represented his government in peace talks with the Tamil Tigers separatist group. Annan's second five-year term expires on Dec. 31. Asian countries believe the next UN secretary general should come from their continent, according to a traditional rotation among regions for the top job. The last Asian to hold the post was U Thant of Myanmar, who served from 1961 to 1971. But Washington has said the secretary general should be selected without regard to region. The successful candidate is decided when the UN General Assembly endorses a selection made by the Security Council. And experts say the race is hard to predict, given the United Nations' history of last-minute compromises. South Koreans believe that Ban's election would greatly elevate their country's international status, said Lee Chung Hee, a political scientist at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul. Ban, 61, a career diplomat who speaks English and French, has been South Korea's foreign minister since early 2004. Before that he worked as senior presidential aide and ambassador at the United Nations. Ban's tenure as foreign minister has been marked with regular differences with Washington - the most strained relations between the two countries in recent memory. Under President Roh Moo Hyun, South Korea often took stances out of line with U.S. policy over such issues as the North Korean nuclear threat, while pursuing greater engagement with their Communist neighbor and a bigger economic relationship with China. The soft-spoken Ban has also been the point man in his government's campaign for a mediator's role in six-country nuclear talks. The talks have given Ban a rare opportunity to deal with his counterparts in the United States, China, Japan and Russia - an asset that could prove useful for his UN campaign, said Park Soo Gil, South Korea's UN ambassador from 1995 to 1998. But Ban's career and his country's geopolitical interests could work both ways for Minister Ban, said Park, noting that South Korea's military alliance with the United States may eventually make China and Russia reluctant to support Ban's candidacy. Under Ban's tenure, South Korea also repeatedly refused to join a U.S. campaign to publicly denounce North Korea's human rights record at the United Nations, fearing that such a tactic would further complicate what Seoul considers the strategically more important goal of dismantling North Korea's nuclear facilities. But Park said Ban's management talent as an administrator would appeal to Washington, which seeks UN reforms. There is a growing demand that the United Nations be changed to deal more efficiently and more flexibly with the rapidly changing international situations, Ban said. The United Nations needs an attitude to accept these issues. Ban said he backed strengthening the role of the UN General Assembly. He also supports an increase in non-permanent members of the Security Council without the addition of permanent seats. Dhanapala, Sri Lanka's official nominee, also served as his country's UN ambassador. He later returned to the United Nations to serve as UN undersecretary general for disarmament between 1998 and 2003. His strongest selling point is his international reputation as a diplomat, said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Center for Policy Alternatives, a research and advocacy group based in Colombo. He has the gravitas, the intelligence and the depth to be worthy of this post. But Saravanamuttu added that Sri Lanka's diplomatic community recognized that because of the global political imperatives, and international balances of power that govern these appointments, Dhanapala might not ultimately get the job. Interviews that Dhanapala has given since emerging as a candidate last year suggest that he does not have a radical reform agenda. There is a lot that is right about the UN, he said. We have to preserve what is right while fixing what is not. Dhanapala, 67, speaks Chinese, as well as French, English and Sinhala. One of the priorities for the next secretary general will be to embrace the growing influence of China and India. Thailand's candidate, Surakiart, was the first to announce his candidacy. He has been campaigning for more than a year, presenting himself as a proponent of reform, human rights and fiscal responsibility. For the 47-year-old former foreign minister and finance minister of Thailand, his boss may prove his biggest liability. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Surakiart's patron, is struggling with his deepening unpopularity at home. Thaksin has also annoyed some UN officials, as well as Muslim countries, over his harsh crackdown on a violent uprising in Muslim areas in southern Thailand. Amelia Gentleman and Seth Mydans also contributed to this article.