South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon was formally nominated as United Nations secretary general on Monday, only hours after North Korea defied the world body by announcing a nuclear test.
The UN Security Council voted by acclamation, thereby effectively anointing Ban as successor to Secretary General Kofi Annan, whose 10 years in office expire on December 31, said Japan’s UN Ambassador, Kenzo Oshima, this month’s council president.
Six other candidates for the job had withdrawn, leaving members to vote only for Ban.
The 192-member UN General Assembly must give final approval to Ban’s nomination, which usually follows within a week or two. That vote is expected to be positive.
Some diplomats, including Oshima, have speculated that North Korea’s announcement on October 3 of plans to carry out the underground nuclear test was timed, in part, to coincide with Ban’s candidacy in an effort to get world attention.
Shortly after the vote for Ban, Security Council members went into closed consultations on North Korea to see what action could be taken. The council on Friday urged North Korea not to carry out a test, warning Pyongyang of unspecified consequences if it did.
Ban (62) would be the eighth secretary general in the world body’s 60-year history. He will inherit a bureaucracy of 9 000 staff, a $5-billion budget and more than 90 000 peacekeepers in 18 operations around the globe that costs another $5-billion. — Reuters