Here is a glimpse into the life of Ban Ki-moon, former secretary general of The United Nations.

Staff

Date of Birth: June 13, 1944

Place of birth: Chunchongbuk-do Umsong, Republic of Korea

Birth name: Ban Ki-moon

Parents: Names not publicly available

Wedding: Yoo Soon-taek (1971-present)

Children: Hyun-hee, Woo-hyun and Seon-yong

Education: Seoul National University, BA, 1970; Harvard University, MA, 1985

Other facts

The name is pronounced Bahn Gi-moon, with the K pronounced as a hard “g”.

As a teenager, he won a Red Cross sponsored trip to the United States. He met President John F. Kennedy and then decided he wanted to become a diplomat.

Chronology

1970 – Pass the South Korean Foreign Service exam.

1972-1974 – Vice-Consul, Consulate General of South Korea in India.

1974-1978 – Second Secretary, Embassy of South Korea in India.

1978-1980 – Secretary, Permanent Observer Mission of South Korea to the United Nations.

1987-1990 – Consul General, Embassy of South Korea to the United States in Washington, DC.

1992-1995 – Minister, Embassy of South Korea in the United States.

1996 – National Security Advisor to South Korean President Kim Young-sam.

1998-2000 – Ambassador of South Korea to Austria.

1999 – Chairman of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.

2001-2002 – Chief of staff during South Korea’s presidency of the United Nations General Assembly.

2003 – Foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.

January 2004 – Appointed South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

February 14, 2006 – Formally declares his candidacy for the post of Secretary General.

October 9, 2006 – Formally appointed by the United Nations Security Council be the next general secretary, replacing Kofi Annan.

October 13, 2006 – Appointed by the United Nations General Assembly.

January 1, 2007-December 31, 2016 – Serves as the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations.

March 22, 2007 – Pays an unannounced visit to Baghdad, Iraq, to ​​meet Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. During a live press conference with Maliki in Baghdad’s green zone, a rocket strikes just outside the room.

January 20, 2009 – Visit the burnt-out ruins of the UN compound in Gaza City which was destroyed by an Israeli bomb.

June 21, 2011 – Ban is appointed to a second term as Secretary-General of the United Nations, by acclamation.

December 9, 2011 – Ban pays unannounced visit to Mogadishu, the first visit by a UN chief Somalia in almost 20 years.

April 30, 2012 – Addresses MyanmarParliament, becoming the first foreigner to do so since the start of military rule in 1962.

August 29-31, 2012 – Visits to Tehran, Iran, for the meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement.

January 2014 – Invites Iran to participate in the Geneva Conference on Syria. The Syrian opposition threatens not to attend the meeting if Iran does attend. The Iranian invitation is withdrawn.

March 2014 – Meeting of members of political parties in Kiev, Ukraine.

December 12, 2015 – 195 representatives at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21) pledge to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius. Ban, who has made climate change one of his priorities, applauds the “Paris Agreement” and says “the work begins tomorrow”.

September 14, 2017 – Ban is elected president of the Ethics Commission of the International Olympic Committee.

February 20, 2018 – Ban is elected President of the Assembly and President of the Council of World Institute for Green Growth.

April 9, 2018 – Ban is elected president of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA).

January 2018 – The Ban Ki-moon Center for Global Citizens is established. The Center is co-chaired by Ban and Heinz Fischer.

October 16, 2018 – Bill Gates, Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank, and Ban launch the Global Commission on Adaptation.

February 5, 2020 – Ban receives the Sunhak Peace Prize during the General Assembly of the 2020 World Summit.