By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 5 --
Will Ban
Ki-moon
try to become
president of
South Korea
when he
finishes as UN
Secretary
General in
2017? After
asking Ban's
deputy
spokesperson
on October 22,
and another
round of
stories in
Seoul, on
November 5
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's main
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric. Video here and embedded below.
Inner City
Press noted
the stories
and asked
Dujarric if
Ban could say
he has no
intention of
running, or if
he is
considering
running.
Dujarric
insisted that
the UN is
Ban's "sole
focus." Inner
City Press
asked, what's
Ban's focus in
2017? From the
transcript:
Inner
City Press: On
the
Secretary-General,
I'm sure
you've seen
these stories,
sort of a
second round
of them,
saying that he
may run for
president in
[the Republic
of] Korea in
2017. I
asked Farhan
and he said
he's currently
focused on his
job. I
don’t
know.
I'm sure you
know how these
things
go. Is
there no
chance he will
run? Is
he leaving the
option
open?
What does he
make about
this turmoil
in [the
Republic of]
Korea?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
Ban Ki-moon is
the
Secretary-General
of the United
Nations and
that is the
sole focus of
his
work. I
mean, I think
you've seen
and you can
all know that
he has quite a
lot on his
plate on the
UN agenda, and
that is the
sole focus of
his work.
Inner
City
Press:
What's on his
agenda in
2017?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
This is the
sole focus of
his work.
For
now? This is
how things are
left open.
Back on
October 22,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq. Video here.
Triggering the
question was
Ban's
inclusion in a
poll about
possible
candidates,
including
Seoul Mayor
Park Won-soon
and Hyundai
"scion" Chung
Mong-joon, and
Haq's refusal
to answer
basic
questions
about the
DR Congo,
South
Sudan and
cholera.
Haq said "it's
not his
decision to be
included in a
poll.
What the
Secretary-General
is doing and
what he is
concentrating
on is his job
as
Secretary-General."
But Inner City
Press followed
up with "a
natural
question, is
he going to
run or
not? Has
he made a
decision never
to run?
Is the door
open?
What is his
position?"
Haq
replied that
Ban's
"position is
that right now
he is focused
on his work as
Secretary-General
and that is
where it will
stand."
This is akin
to the coy
answers given
by actual
candidates, in
the US and
elsewhere. It
has now been
suggested to
Inner City
Press it could
further
explain Ban's
silence on
attacks of
press freedom
in South
Korea.
The
government in
Seoul has
indicted
journliast
Tatsuya Kato
on possible
charges of
defaming
current
President Park
Geun-hye, and
has again
blocked him
from leaving
South Korea.
At
issue is an
article that
Tatsuya Kato
wrote citing
Chosun Ilbo --
which also ran
the recent
poll including
Ban -- that
during the
sinking of the
Sewol ferry in
April,
President Park
was not seen
for seven
hours and may
have been
trysting with
a recently
divorced
former aide.