NEW YORK - When Ban Ki-moon went to Myanmar last July, he was the first United
Nations secretary general to enter since his Asian predecessor, U Thant, whose
body was taken home after he died in New York in 1974. On that occasion, the
military dictatorship of Ne Win provoked massive riots with its funereal
disrespect for the country's most famous international figure.
South Korean Ban, 66, came under criticism for speaking to Ne Win’s successors,
but was praised for his courage in risking a likely snub. In an interview with
Asia Times Online, Ban said his visit was the first in 42 years for a living
head of the UN, and he considered it well worthwhile. "I was able to speak to
the general public there in an open dialogue. I was told it was the first time
that any foreign dignitary had been able to speak to the diplomats, citizens,
students of Myanmar."
He added, "I gave them the same message I left for the generals and the rest of
the leadership - and hope they will implement it. I am still working very hard:
most recently I have communicated again with Senior General Than Shwe, I left a
strong message for those leaders. The release of the number two in Aung San Suu
Kyi's party was very encouraging, but they must do much more to ensure the
credibility of the electoral process," said Ban, in reference to the release
last month of U Tin Oo of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. The leader
herself remains under house arrest.
"This year there will be an election and it is extremely important, crucial,
[that it is an] inclusive, transparent and credible one, for that we are
working very hard to get Aung San Suu Kyi released and all political leaders
released," said Ban.
The junta has said there will be elections this year as a part of a so-called
roadmap to democracy, but no date has been set.
Ban's visit to Myanmar summed up his distinctive approach. Despite his low-key
public delivery, he claims - and others who have witnessed him do too - that he
is firm and principled in private when meeting leaders, whether Sudanese,
Israeli or Burmese. "My meetings with those leaders have been quite
straightforward and very vocal, and the record will show,'' Ban said. "Most of
my senior advisors were quite surprised by how outspoken I was - because I was
speaking from my own conviction.''
Ban, who assumed office on January 1, 2007, said: "Normally, diplomatically
speaking one should be nice and indirect, but I believe in being
straightforward with leaders who are very difficult to deal with, regardless of
whom, but I am still able to maintain a relationship with them. Because you
know what, I was speaking officially, but at the same time I was trying to tell
them of my own experience, what I have witnessed of the Korea experience of the
transition to democracy, and the process of economic development from the ashes
of the Korean War [in the early 1950s]. And so I have been able to establish
some working relationships with those leaders, but I am always
straightforward."
So he can talk to President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir of Sudan, even while
welcoming the International Criminal Court's 2008 warrant for Bashir's arrest
on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. Ban
can secure "reimbursement" from Israel for damage to UN property in Gaza and
issue statements calling for an end to the blockade of Gaza, while still having
his calls answered in Israel - and getting calls to answer.
Indeed, he is about to stick his head into another potential hornet's nest -
North Korea. "The last visit from my predecessors to Pyongyang was in 1993 by
Boutros Ghali. Before him, it was 1979. This is not desirable. I looked through
this historical chronology, and I think we need to have stronger and better
relations with North Korea. That is why I dispatched Lynn Pascoe [the UN
special envoy] to Pyongyang to open a high-level dialogue where they touched
upon all aspects of UN/DPRK relations. If I am invited, I will be prepared to
go ... [if] I feel that there is a role I can play.''
It would be interesting to hear what he would say to Dear Leader Kim Jong-il,
but it would be in Korean and in private. The UN-imposed sanctions on North
Korea after its long-range missile test and then nuclear tests last April and
May. Six-party denuclearization talks remain stuck on North Korea's insistence
on conditions that have no immediate chance of acceptance, including the demand
for a Korean War peace treaty.
Ban has grown beyond the suspicions of some that his orientation is, well,
Oriental, although he confesses he began his diplomatic career thinking, "What
should I do for my country, totally devastated by war and very poor?'' He said
he thought he could help enhance the status and prestige of Korea. "And so my
major in college was in international affairs.''
Ban received a bachelor's degree in international relations from Seoul National
University in 1970 and earned a Master of Public Administration from the John F
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1985.
"It came to our attention that when SG [secretary general] Kofi Annan's term
was over [in December 2006], that it was Asia's turn,'' Ban added. "So the
Korean government considered the possibility of a Korean being elected, and at
the time I was FM [foreign minister] and I was regarded as one of the most
suitable.''
Ban was a suitable candidate not only because he was foreign minister. He had
worked in Korea’s UN mission as director of the UN department and as chef de
cabinet for the Korean president of the General Assembly from 2001 to
2002.
"The dream came at a late stage,'' he said. "But I really believed in the
enormous work of the United Nations and its mission and what it could do for
world peace and security."
The UN, he says, "Has been and continues to be a beacon of hope. It was the
United Nations which really saved Korea. Sixteen countries came to the aid of
Korea when North Korea attacked [South Korea in 1950].'' As an aside, he adds,
"It was the first enforcement action under the UN charter. The first after only
five years of existence."
Indeed, it is often forgotten that technically the Korean War was fought under
UN auspices and the flag that flies at Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone
between the two Koreas is the UN’s blue flag. "It still does," Ban said,
pointing out that "the United Nations command does not report regularly to me,
but to the Security Council".
Former secretary general Dag Hammarskjold risked big problems with the US by
going to Beijing in the 1950s, when Taipei represented China in the UN. Had Ban
considered now going to Taiwan to help negotiate, since possibly the biggest
threat to peace in Asia is the confrontation over the strait?
A visit by him would be unnecessary, he said. "I know that there is tension
between China and Taiwan but I am also encouraged by what China has been doing
by encouraging exchanges and cooperation, trying to free [up] investment both
ways. Through these exchanges and cooperation I am more or less optimistic that
there will not be too much mounting tensions.'' Reminded that the mainland
showed no sign of moving its missiles, Ban was understandably unwilling to be
drawn. "I hope they will overcome this problem,'' he said.
He is equally unwilling to be drawn on the question of whether he would expect
a second term when his five-year spell runs out in two years. "I have been
working very hard over the last three years because I believe in the ideals and
mission of the United Nations. I will continue to do that, but now we at the UN
are facing unprecedented challenges, multiple challenges facing us all at
once,'' he said. "So I am very much preoccupied in trying to coordinate the
UN’s response. In time I will have an opportunity to consider this issue."
When asked if his answer appeared to be him reverting to his alleged "slippery
eel" mode of evading a question, he countered, "First I have to work harder and
harder'' before giving thought to a second term. "I am very humbled every day
by knowing that there are so many challenges facing us, and I know I am one of
the world leaders that has to work very, very hard in close coordination with
the others to address those issues. So I begin every day as if it is the first
day of my mandate.''
Ian Williams is the author of Deserter: Bush's War on Military
Families, Veterans and His Past, Nation Books, New York.
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