AKIPRESS.COM - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday gave the strongest signal yet that he’s willing to run for president in his native South Korea.
Ban said he’d be inclined to run if his decade-long experience as UN head "can be of help to the country,” Yonhap News reported him telling Korean reporters in New York. The 72-year-old said he would “burn” himself if it could help his nation -- drawing on a Korean idiom that indicates uncompromising dedication to a cause -- it said.
Even so, he said he couldn’t give a definitive answer before his tenure as UN chief expires Dec. 31, Yonhap said.
After serving two consecutive terms as UN chief, the former South Korean foreign minister plans to return home in January to a country tipped into political turmoil by a corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. He stands in second place in polls of potential candidates behind Moon Jae-in, former chief of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.
Ban, a career diplomat who served under President Roh Moo-hyun, advocates dialogue with North Korea and hasn’t previously engaged in domestic politics. His prominence on the global stage has boosted his popularity among voters disillusioned with career politicians at home.
Ban said he will decide on a timeline and process for entering domestic politics after meeting the Korean people, saying that what they want is "especially important," Yonhap said. He added that political party affiliation "is not important."
Ban will make his decision after he returns to Korea and discusses it with his friends and family, spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. Deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said, “I’m not aware that he has said anything about a run for the presidency.”