By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, November 23, updated -- With North and South Korea exchanging fire amid renewed concern about North Korea's nuclear program, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's November 22 speech at Seton Hall, billed alternately as a major policy address or Ban's re-election speech, mentioned Korea only once, in passing and in an entirely positive context.
“We help the helpless to help themselves, just as the UN did for Korea many decades ago,” Ban said, before praising his own performance in Myanmar and Darfur.
Throughout the weekend before Ban gave his major / re-election speech, the wires and UN press corps were full of news of North Korea and its nuclear program. Still, no one in Ban's team modified the speech.
At 4:30 am on November 23, the US White House issued a statement on the Korean shooting. Four hours later, still nothing out of Ban's UN Secretariat. Watch this space.
Update of 10:20 am -- Ban Ki-moon has announced that he has “conveyed his utmost concern to the President of the Security Council.” But President Mark Lyall Grant told the Press no one has requested a meeting on the Korea shootout. S-Gs can request Council meetings, under Article 99 of the UN Charter. So what does utmost mean? What is ut-ter than utmost? Watch this site.
