Ban Ki-moon to Run for Second Term as UN Chief Backed by Asia

South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon said he will run for a second five-year term as secretary-general of the United Nations, a bid that’s likely to result in his re-election within a month as Asia’s two biggest economies backed him.

“It has been an enormous privilege to lead this great organization,” Ban, 66, said yesterday at a news conference at UN headquarters in New York. “If supported by the member states, I would be deeply honored to serve once more.”

Ban said he expressed his intention in a letter to the governments of the 192 UN member nations and would meet with their envoys within the next two days. The Security Council would first vote to recommend his re-election and the General Assembly would then vote on whether to give him a second term that would begin on Jan. 1, 2012.

Ban is almost assured of re-election because Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S., the five permanent members of the Security Council, have signaled their support and no opposition candidate has emerged. The eighth UN secretary general, Ban would be the fifth to win election to a second term.

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