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Ban Ki-Moon: He’s Already Screwing Up the U.N.!

If it’s still possible, that is.  Add corruption to the list of U.N.’s fatal  flaws and  despotic  tendencies,  of which Ban Ki Moon is already an accomplished practitioner.

The Times said Friday the Korean government “has pledged millions of dollars in aid and offered other incentives to members of the United Nations Security Council to secure its candidate as the next UN secretary-general. Under the sardonic headline, “Millions of dollars and a piano may put Korean in UN’s top job” and the subtitle “Aid campaign is crucial in race to succeed Kofi Annan,” the day’s top story in the paper’s online edition broadly hints that the Korean government may be using means other than Ban’s impeccable credentials to ensure he gets the job.

Well!   I am shocked, shocked to see such behavior at the United Nations, especially  from a protege of  Korea’s most  distinguished Nobel Laureate.

As examples of “aid diplomacy,” the newspaper cites Korea’s tripling of its aid budget for African countries to US$100 million in February, the tens of thousands of pounds it contributed to sponsoring this year’s African Union summit in the Gambia in July, and its donation of $180 million for an education program in Tanzania, a temporary member of the UN Security Council.

The Foreign Ministry denied the two issues are linked.

Whatever you say.

8 Responses

  1. SK is spreading goodwill to developing countries.

    When Ban becomes Secretary-General, it will be interesting to see how NK reacts. The North Koreans will be jealous of SK’s success, and yet proud that a fellow Korean is heading the UN.

  2. And what an absolutely amazing coincidence that South Korea chose this moment to discover good will. When an African can walk into any club in Apkujeong without being summarily tossed out, I will consider taking you seriously.

  3. Publicly, they’ll dismiss Ban and the U.N. as puppets of the United States. Privately, they’ll open be opening bottles of Hennessey knowing they can gas people with abandon for their weapons tests without fear that anyone will care.

    And Seoul will celebrate with them.

  4. Also, your comment is revealing of an attitude that I suspect most South Koreans share. Your only real interest is how all of this will make South Korea look, but pretty disinterested in what Ban might actually do at the U.N. I’ve actually seen zero information about that — zip. One possibility: nobody cares. Shades of Hwang Woo-Seok and Kim Dae Jung: it’s about bringing home the cup, and never mind that the cup is filled with bilgewater.

    There are probably plenty of Koreans who’d make perfectly fine choices for the U.N. Kang Chol Hwan? Kim Moon Soo? But certainly not a faustian betrayer of Korea’s most oppressed and vulnerable people, which is just what Ban Ki Moon is.

    Let me suggest the possibility that, Like Hwang and DJ, Ban might actually win office just in time for there to be a major scandal about how he got it. As a result, pulling out of the U.N. would become an issue in the 2008 presidential campaign, and the institution would have to find a way to get by on 40% less money. Everywhere, people would become turned off on the institution after reading about its second massive corruption scandal in as many years. If Ban weathered that — and hey, Kofi did — he’d have only his complete lack of testes or a moral compass to deal with. It would be the beginning of the end for the U.N. How would Korea look then?

    I say we reach an agreement. Let Ban be Sec Gen. Let’s also agree that henceforth, the term of office will be six months. Korea will have its prize, and even I can stand Ban for six months if I can make hash-marks on my office wall. Everybody happy!

  6. I’m just wondering if there’s an ulterior motive for SK making this push for Ban Kimoon, in addition to ‘bringing home the cup.’ Would it have anything to do with NK… (Just wondering, don’t really know fo the intricacies of how the UN functions).

  7. If Ban does a really good job, he can serve two terms like Kofi Annan did for 10 years.
    You’re not serious about this comment, are you? Kofi Annan did a good job?