MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Ki-moon was born June 13, 1944 in North Chungcheong Province in the Republic of Korea. As a teenager, Ban won a contest organized by the Red Cross and was awarded a trip to the United States. During his US visit, the future UN chief met then US President John F. Kennedy.
In 1970, he graduated from Seoul National University receiving a bachelor's degree in international relations and in 1985 earned a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Ki-moon worked for the South Korean embassy in India and served as first secretary of South Korea’s UN Permanent Observer Mission in New York. He also held diplomatic positions at the South Korean Embassy in the United States.
In 1990-1992, he served as Director-General for American Affairs and in 1995-1996 served as Deputy Foreign Minister for Policy Planning and was Ambassador to Austria in 1998-2000.
In 1999, Ban headed the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.
In 2001, as South Korea held the rotating presidency at the 56th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Ban was appointed to be the chief of staff to the General Assembly president.
Three years later he became South Korea’s foreign and trade minister.
He held numerous nuclear talks with North Korea and in 2005, as foreign minister, played a crucial role during the fourth round of six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue in Beijing.
In January 2007, Ban Ki-moon entered upon his duties as the UN secretary-general replacing Kofi Annan. He was unanimously reelected to hold this office in June 2011. His second five-year term expires at midnight on December 31, 2016.
UN Secretary-General-designate Antonio Guterres will take over from Ban Ki-moon on January 1, 2017.
Ban Ki-moon was awarded the Order of Service Merit, 1st class, by the government of South Korea three times. He also received a number of awards from foreign states.
Ban is regarded as a candidate for South Korean presidency, though he has not announced a decision to join the presidential race to date. He has higher popular support compared to the other candidates, according to a poll published on December 26.
The outdoing UN secretary-general speaks Russian and French. He is married and has three daughters and a son.
