UN chief hints he may run for South Korea president after his tenure ends
Outgoing United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon suggests that he may run for president of South Korea after his 10-year-long tenure at the world body ends early next year.
Ban made the remarks during his final press conference as the UN chief at the world body's headquarters in New York on Friday.
“I will really consider seriously how best and what I should and I could do for my country,” Ban said in response to a question whether he would run for office.
He added that upon returning to South Korea, which he said is "in turmoil," he would meet “as many people as possible,” including political and community leaders as well as friends and advisers.
Ban’s comments come as his home country is engulfed in political uncertainty after its incumbent President Park Geun-hye was impeached last week on charges of constitutional and criminal violations ranging from failure to protect people’s lives to bribery and abuse of power.
Most of the charges stemmed from a probe into a scandal involving Choi Soon-sil, a long-time confidante of the suspended president. Choi is currently awaiting prosecution for fraud and embezzlement. Park is accused of colluding with Choi in coercing large corporations into paying tens of millions of dollars in “donations” to organizations under her control.
The political upheaval has also been coupled with huge weekly protest rallies, demanding that politicians play an active role in ousting Park from office.
Ban’s political prospects as the next president are still shrouded in substantial uncertainty since he must wait to see if the country’s Constitutional Court rules to remove Park permanently. Then, he has to determine what political party he would align with before making a presidential bid.
The 72-year-old UN chief served his country as the minister of foreign affairs from 2004 to 2006.
Antonio Guterres, Portugal’s former premier, was sworn in as the new head of the world body late last week and will replace Ban on January 1, 2017.
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