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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 000509 
 
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/18/2015 
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNSC KS
SUBJECT: ROK FOREIGN MINISTER THROWS HAT INTO UNSYG RING 
 
Classified By: POL M/C Joseph Y. Yun.  Reasons 1.4 (b), (d). 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
¶1. (C) On February 14, the ROK formally announced Foreign 
Minister Ban Ki-moon's candidacy for UN Secretary General. 
Ban, who has been actively campaigning for several weeks, has 
apparently been encouraged by initial reactions to his 
candidacy.  MOFAT DG Kim Won-soo, who was recently tapped to 
become special assistant to Minister Ban and coordinate 
efforts for a UNSYG campaign, told POL M/C recently that one 
of Ban's strengths is that he has no enemies.  As the 
representative of a democratic, market-oriented Asian 
country, said Kim, Ban should be a strong candidate.  Kim 
also portrayed Ban as having engineered significant reforms 
to the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  Well-liked 
by his staff, Ban Ki-moon is a diplomat's diplomat: urbane, 
intelligent, and unfailingly polite.  He is proof that "nice 
guys" don't always finish last, but sometimes rise to the top 
of their profession.  These very qualities, however, could 
cause some to wonder whether he would have the willingness to 
fight the serious bureaucratic battles that UN reform would 
require.  END SUMMARY. 
 
GENIE IS OUT OF THE BOTTLE 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) In a statement to the press on February 14, Vice 
Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan announced that his boss, 
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, will seek election to be 
Secretary General of the United Nations. Foreign Minister Ban 
 
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"brings to his candidacy nearly four decades of extensive 
experience and an untarnished reputation as a diplomat and 
administrator, much of it directly related to issues of peace 
and security, development, and human rights and democracy, 
the three pillars on which the United Nations stands," said 
Yu.  In a subsequent press conference, Ban highlighted the 
need for reform of the UN and his own professional experience 
with the organization. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In a February 8 meeting with POL M/C, MOFAT 
Director-General for Policy Planning Kim Won-soo explained 
that Seoul has been trying to dampen South Korean media 
speculation and coverage of Foreign Minister Ban's campaign 
to be the next UNSYG candidate.  The ROK had embargoed news 
of Ban's candidacy, but would lift the embargo on February 
14, primarily because it could not keep the silence any 
longer, having already extended the embargo twice.  The 
embargo has allowed Minister Ban to campaign quietly without 
having reporters clamor for initial foreign reactions and 
thereby possibly limit flexibility in other capitals.  Kim 
said ROKG officials have told South Korean media that it 
would be in Ban's, and thus Seoul's, interest if the press 
did not get too carried away too soon in the game.  In fact, 
MOFAT would have preferred to keep the embargo, but that was 
not possible, Kim said. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Despite the uncertainty of when the official 
campaign would formally start, Seoul has begun initial 
preparations.  For example, on the day the embargo was 
lifted, ROKG officials distributed press backgrounders that 
framed Seoul's view of what South Korea and Minister Ban 
could do for the UN. 
. 
BAN USES TRAVEL TO DISCUSS UNSYG SCENARIO 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Over the past several weeks, Minister Ban has also 
moved to plant the seeds for his campaign.  Ban last week 
returned from a 14-day trip to Europe and Africa, including 
stops in Davos for the World Economic Forum January 26-27; 
Ghana, January 28-30; London, for the ministerial conference 
on Afghanistan reconstruction January 31 to February 1; 
Congo, February 2-3; and France, February 4-6, returning in 
time to meet with the visiting Indian President in Seoul on 
February 7.  In Paris, Minister Ban delivered a speech in 
 
SEOUL 00000509  002 OF 003 
 
 
French to journalists and political science students and 
answered questions in English, demonstrating his ability in 
two working languages of the United Nations. 
 
¶6.  (C) In a February 9 conversation with the Ambassador, 
Minister Ban said he was encouraged by the reaction he 
received from his recent travels, especially that of the 
French.  Seoul, he said, had also sent a heads-up message to 
Pyongyang and had thus far received no reply, indicating no 
immediate objections.  He added that he personally was 
worried about East Timor's Foreign Minister Ramos-Horta 
potentially emerging as an eleventh-hour compromise choice. 
 
¶7.  (C) On February 6, Minister Ban sent a letter to the 
Secretary informing her of his candidacy.  Ban argued that 
 
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the next Secretary-General should come from the Asian region; 
that as a vibrant market economy and emerging donor, as well 
as a democracy fully committee to human rights, the rule of 
law, peace and peaceful resolution of conflicts, South Korea 
hoped to honor the contribution it has received from the UN; 
and that Ban's experience on the global stage for more than 
three decades, ten years with UN affairs, made him the right 
man from Korea for the UN job. 
. 
INITIAL CAMPAIGN STRATEGY 
------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) During the February 8 meeting, DG Kim made the case 
for Minister Ban, emphasizing that one of his biggest 
strengths was that "no one dislikes" Ban.  Kim claimed that 
so far there were no negative responses from Beijing, Moscow, 
or Paris.  Noting that in the straw polls, capitals were not 
limited to the number of candidates they supported, Kim 
speculated that China probably would not vote against Asian 
candidates because of its efforts to improve its image in the 
region.  Kim opined that the U.S. alliance need not block 
Ban's candidacy in Beijing's view, at worst, China might 
support several Asian candidates rather than veto his 
candidacy.  When asked about Tokyo, DG Kim responded that 
Japanese leaders might be reluctant to vote against Seoul's 
candidate, and thereby risk further inflaming anti-Japanese 
sentiments in Korea.  (NOTE: During a February 13 meeting 
with POL M/C, however, Japanese Embassy Political Minister 
Counselor Koji Tomita noted Seoul's strong opposition to 
Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council and 
predicted Tokyo would withhold a decision on the 
Secretary-General race until the UN reform picture became 
 
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clearer.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Acknowledging the importance of UN management 
reform, DG Kim pointed to Ban's accomplishments in reforming 
the Foreign Ministry.  Minister Ban had essentially 
strengthened term limits for South Korean ambassadors by 
reducing the numbers of missions they could head to two from 
three or four.  Ban had mandated a retirement age of sixty. 
And, he reduced the amount of time returning foreign service 
officers could look for a job from a one-year paid period to 
four months.  These were controversial and tough decisions, 
quite unpopular among MOFAT senior staff, Kim said. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Kim said that another initiative was Ban's 
decision to hold weekly press conferences.  Minister Ban was 
the only South Korean cabinet minister who did this, which 
reflected his confidence and ability to handle and organize a 
gamut of issues.  Ban's ability to handle the tough Korean 
press corps reportedly earned him a nickname akin to Mr. 
Teflon. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Kim asserted that the division of the Korean 
Peninsula, rather than a negative for his candidacy, could be 
turned into a strength because it might be argued that no one 
knew more about the value of conflict management, 
international cooperation, and the role of the United Nations 
than the South Korean Foreign Minister.  South Korea, for 
example, represented the ideals of the United Nations and 
understood the value of free markets, freedom, and democracy. 
 Minister Ban's December 2005 announcement that Seoul sought 
 
SEOUL 00000509  003 OF 003 
 
 
to double its official Development Assistance allocations by 
2009, combined with Seoul's contributions to supporting 
reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan and experience 
with peacekeeping operations, might be cited to demonstrate 
South Korea's growing international role. 
VERSHBOW