The quiet man with the world on his shoulders

Ban Ki-Moon, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea, will be inaugurated as the 8th Secretary General of the United Nations (UNSG) on 1 January, 2007, just fifteen years after South Korea was admitted to the UN. Despite the political division of the peninsular and South Korea’s strong alliance with the United States, Ban was selected as UNSG with the overwhelming support of the 192 member countries.

Ban, aged 62 and a Harvard graduate, has been an outstanding career foreign service officer for the past 37 years, with wide UN experience — most recently as chief of staff to the South Korean president of the General Assembly.

The position of UN Secretary General is clearly of great importance. So how good is he likely to be? Some media commentators have criticised him as lacking charismatic leadership and resoluteness. Concerns have also been raised that he might become a secretary rather than a general, while others have even argued that Ban may be devoured by UN bureaucracy even before he undertakes major organisational reforms.

But if charisma is not his style, Ban has consistently demonstrated an aptitude for consensual leadership. In his own words, he is a ‘harmoniser, balancer, mediator.’ The UN needs a person who can skillfully combine the mandates of secretary and general. Steering the conflicting interests, values and preferences of 192 members is not easy task, and as Kofi Annan puts it, perhaps even an ‘impossible’ one. Yet these are the very situations in which Ban’s qualities should prove most valuable. His Asian leadership virtue of being soft in appearance but resolute in conviction will help him lead the UN with harmony and consensus.

Ban’s greatest asset is his amazing ability to pacify the hostile with persuasion and patience. His sincere and humble attitude, his genuine willingness to listen, and his prudence and consensus-building orientation have prevented him from having enemies.

He has achieved this not through appeasement and political waffling, but through mutual respect and fundamental competence that have proven effective at all levels of activity. This quality is particularly evident in the bi-partisan support of his candidacy in South Korea, where politics under President Roh Moo-hyun has been characterised by extreme polarisation between the ideological right and left. Despite this, Foreign Minister Ban was able to garner support from the entire spectrum of ruling and opposition parties — a rare and remarkable phenomenon.

Ban has also been deeply involved in inter-Korean affairs. As early as 1992, Ban was instrumental in the adoption of a declaration on the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula as vice chair of the North-South Joint Nuclear Commission. More recently, he played a key role in making a breakthrough on the North Korean nuclear impasse through the adoption of the Beijing September 19 joint-statement that outlines solutions for the North Korean nuclear problem. Although the rigid policy stances by North Korea and the US have temporarily stalled the six-party talks process and the implementation of the joint-statement, Ban’s hard work in steering the talks deserves commendation.

Going forward, Ban has pledged to give a priority to the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear problem by appointing a special envoy. Ban Ki-Moon has consistently supported the sunshine policy with North Korea because there is no practical alternative but engagement — which offers the possibility of opening up and reforming the North.

Nevertheless, he opposes unilateral concessions to the North, and has been calling for an appropriate mix of sticks and carrots. He has also expressed serious concerns on human rights and the humanitarian conditions in North Korea. As UN Secretary General, Ban will pay utmost attention to the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1718 on North Korea, and will also utilise the UN in fostering humanitarian assistance to, and improving human rights in, the North.

For Ban, the first 100 days of his term will be crucial for him, not only in laying out his vision of, and strategies for, UN reform, but also reshuffling 128 key posts involving under-secretary generals and assistant secretary generals that make up the core of his team. He has a good track record here: as South Korea’s foreign minister, Ban undertook sweeping reform of the ministry, cutting down the number of ambassadors, opening ambassadorial posts to outsiders, and introducing innovative measures for budgeting and personnel management.

However, the lasting success of the UN Secretary General is, by and large, influenced by the SG’s relationship with the five permanent members (P-5) of the UN Security Council. As the experiences of U Thant, the third SG, and Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the sixth SG demonstrate, soured relationships between the SG and the United States fundamentally undercut the effectiveness of the SG.

But unlike such previous SGs, Ban has maintained good relationships with the P-5. He has strong working relations with China, Russia, and the US forged during shuttle diplomacy during the six-party talks process. Rather unusually, both China and the US gave staunch support to Ban’s candidacy. His mastery of French and interest in African affairs has won support from France; Ban is also planning to visit London in early December to meet with Tony Blair. His balanced diplomacy with the P-5 will be a great asset in managing the thorny relationships between the General Assembly and the P-5.

These qualities and prospects notwithstanding, the challenges facing Ban as UN Secretary General are formidable. Organisational inefficiency, bureaucratic mess, asymmetric power structure, and dismal performance have all been responsible for eroding the trust and legitimacy of the UN. Its power structure, especially involving its Security Council and abuse and misuse of P-5 veto powers, needs re-examination. In order to restore international trust and enhance its legitimacy, the UN must not only undertake major organisational and budgetary reforms, but also deliver real outcomes such as effective peace-keeping and peace making through conflict prevention and resolution, eradication of global poverty and underdevelopment, the preservation of environmental integrity, and the promotion of human rights.

While these huge tasks cannot be accomplished by the individual effort of the Secretary General alone, Ban has the skills, experience and character to be an outstanding SG over the coming years.

Chung-in Moon is professor of political science, Yonsei University, and Ambassador for International Security Affairs of the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs.