After serving as South Korea's foreign minister for nearly three years, Ban Ki-moon bade farewell to fellow officials on Friday with laughter, an emotional speech and a vision for his new mission at the United Nations.
Ban quit his job here to prepare to become the U.N. secretary-general. Ban's departure marked an end to his 37-year career at the South Korean government.
The soft-spoken and witty diplomat began his goodbye speech with a joke.
"There are too many people here. Is anybody working at this moment?," he said, referring to the hundreds of Foreign Ministry officials attending his departure ceremony at the ministry headquarters in Seoul. Also on hand was an army of reporters and photographers.
"Thinking that I won't be able to chat with you over lunch anymore, I feel a sense of loss, as if I were left alone on an inhabited island," Ban said. "But I have no choice but to accept the unavoidable fate. I would like to leave the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, ending a lengthy life as a public official." He said he focused his efforts on advancing and diversifying Seoul's diplomacy. His commitment is proved by the record of his activity.
While working as Seoul's top diplomat for two years and ten months, he visited 111 countries and had a total of 374 meetings with his foreign counterparts, according to Ban's aides.
Despite widespread praise for his accomplishments, Ban said he left a lot of things undone.
"I wanted to put the national security field on a certain track, including the North Korean nuclear issue, peace on the Korean Peninsula, and the introduction of a multilateral security system in Northeast Asia," he said. "But my role was limited due to regional security conditions and various other reasons."
However, Ban should be able to try to handle these issues as U.N. secretary-general.
Delivering a speech to the National Assembly earlier in the day, the South Korean minister reaffirmed his pledge to continue efforts to help resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis by making the best of the authority of the secretary-general.
He added that South Korea should cultivate its diplomatic capability so as to be more conducive to the international community.
"We have to actively undertake noblesse oblige for the international community," Ban said. It was unprecedented for a South Korean minister to give such a speech at the Assembly.
Ban said his election as the next U.N. chief reflects the world's recognition of South Korea's diplomatic level, but Seoul needs to make more efforts to become a key stakeholder in the world.
"My mission at the U.N. is said to be more important than those of any other secretary-generals in the past," Ban said, giving a list of tasks he plans to put a priority on.
He cited the urgent need for tackling global issues such as reform of the U.N., regional conflicts across the world and terrorism.
"I am just a Korean secretary-general, not Korea's secretary-general," he said.
Ban plans to leave for New York next Wednesday to begin preparations to take over the top U.N. post from Kofi Annan, who is to retire at the end of this year.
Seoul, Nov. 10 (Yonhap News)
Ban departs S. Korean Foreign Ministry for top U.N. job |
