Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - Ban Ki-moon is a South Korean diplomat and the current Secretary-General of the United Nations. He succeeded Kofi Annan in this capacity on January 1, 2007.
Ban was the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea from January 2004 to November 1, 2006. On October 13, 2006, he was elected to be the eighth Secretary-General by the United Nations General Assembly and was sworn in on December 14, 2006. He had previously addressed the General Assembly in his capacity as foreign minister during its annual general debate each year since 2004.
In his first public speech in the UK as UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon outlined his vision for the UN and where he feels the organization's priorities lie. Mr Ban concentrated on the fight against climate change and the role multilateral bodies such as the UN can play in alleviating the problem. On peace and security he outlined the UN's activity in the Middle East and its role in ongoing disputes in Africa- Chatham House