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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon gets into a car to leave Jeju International Airport

The controversy over UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s recent remarks hinting at a presidential run is spilling over into the UN’s own briefing room.

For a second straight day after Ban suggested plans to run during a May 25 meeting with senior journalists at the Kwanhun Club, the UN press corps seized on the issue during a regular briefing by deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq at UN headquarters in New York. The unusual spectacle of the Secretary-General’s actions becoming the major issue in a UN briefing - which is typically reserved for major worldwide issues - hints that the controversy over Ban’s political plans could be shaping into an international diplomatic issue.

During Haq’s briefing on May 25, one reporter asked whether Ban was aware of UN Resolution II (I), which was adopted at the first General Assembly in 1946 and restricts secretaries-general from taking government positions soon after their term ends.

“I’m sure he’s aware of this [resolution],” the reporter added, noting that it had been mentioned by Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon.

But Haq’s response appeared to be to a completely different question - neither communicating Ban’s response nor mentioning the resolution.

“The Secretary General's response to this entire topic is one that he made clear even today, where he said that right now he's not considering the idea of what he does next after he ceases to be Secretary General,” he said.

The same reporter proceeded to note that South Korea’s newspapers had reported on Ban as having hinted at a presidential bid.

“I don't really think that there's any point in trying to read into his words more than what he's said,” Haq replied.

A similar situation unfolded on May 26, when a reporter asked “in what possible capacity” Acting High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Kim Won-soo met with South Korean reporters for a briefing before Ban’s recent trip to South Korea.

“In a sense, some people see it as sort of political work,” the reporter added, suggesting that Kim was ignoring his proper duties as a senior UN official to help Ban at a personal level.

“[Kim is] speaking as a UN official who is talking about . . . an official visit by the Secretary General,” Haq replied.

“This is not a trip in a private capacity,” he added.

By Lee Je-hun, staff reporter

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