Postpone mentioning of Ban as pres. candidate until end of UN term

Aides to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a "media response memo" on Wednesday (Tuesday in U.S. eastern time), and said, “Some in the political circle and media have carried reports as if indicating that Secretary-General Ban has expressed interest in Korean politics going forward,” adding, “Secretary-General Ban has no knowledge on them, and they are groundless.” It went on to say, “If reporting politics in his country of origin continues, it is feared that U.N. member states and the U.N. headquarters staff will raise unnecessary questions, and it could cause negative impact on his execution of duty,” urging the media to refrain from carrying reports on him with regard to domestic politics, including opinion polls.

The first group who brought Ban to the dogfight of domestic politics was a gathering of pro-Park Geun-hye lawmakers in the ruling party. The national competitiveness forum comprised of pro-Park lawmakers held a forum on the possibility of Secretary-General Ban running for the Korean presidency on Wednesday lest week, when the president gave administrative policy speech on next year’s state budget at the National Assembly. Earlier, from the next day of October 16 when ruling party Chairman Kim Moo-sung, a non-member of the pro-Park faction, made remarks on "uncontrollable unleashing of debate over constitutional amendment" to cause eyebrows at the presidential office, there was a two-day opinion poll on candidates of the next presidential election that included Ban as a candidate, and pro-Park members started bid to promote Ban in earnest. Pro-Park politicians who lack a promising candidate for their faction are believed to be attempting to block Chairman Kim from dominating the race by trumpeting Ban as alternative.

At the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, advisor Kwon Noh-gap opened discussions on Monday by saying, “We have been considering that it would be good if (Secretary-General Ban) runs as presidential candidate for NPAD.” Rep. Park Jie-won of the party went a step further by saying, “Some leaders (of NPAD) discussed a plan to found a new party of anti-Roh Moo-hyun politicians jointly with Secretary-General Ban,” in a bid to check the mainstream group of the pro-Roh faction in the party. It is not normal for the political circle to prematurely hold heated debate over candidates for the next presidential election at a time when the incumbent president has more than three years until the end of her term in office. Five years ago, ahead of his re-election as the U.N. chief, Ban strongly urged the Korean political circle to exclude him from opinion polls on presidential candidates in the first place, but he only took response long after results of various opinion polls were released this time around. He is receiving all different guests from Korea and is responding to requests for congratulatory video messages. In Monday’s press release, he only emphasized that "he will focus on the current job," without clarifying that he has no intention to run in the next presidential election (2017) after the end of his term (late 2016).

On the international stage, some critics would not consider his contract with Koreans purely as his love of the motherland. If Ban judges by himself that he is best qualified to lead the next five years of the Republic of Korea after successfully completing his duty as U.N. chief, running for the presidential election will be his own political choice. However, he should not be suspected of his innocence and authority as U.N. Secretary-General at least until the end of his term. If he becomes a failed U.N. Secretary-General, it will be a pitiful situation not only for himself but also for his motherland. The Korean political circle and Secretary-General Ban should be extra cautious.