By Matthew Russell Lee, New Exclusive Series
UNITED NATIONS, May 22 – Ban Ki-moon's ambition to be president of South Korea ended amid the indictment of his brother and nephew for UN-related corruption; Ban critic Moon Jae-in won the post. Now Moon Jae-in has named Kyung-wha Kang, who worked for and with Ban at the UN and physically witnessedthe Ban's Department of Public Information's eviction of Inner City Press, as his "new" foreign minister. While Kang was more reasonable than Ban - for example months after the eviction telling Inner City Press, "There must be a process" (there still isn't) - are her policy views different? Here is a photo of her meeting with Saudi Arabia's mission to the UN, in the midst of the ongoing bombing of Yemen; she said little, at least publicly. She sat in, along with Kim Won-soo now seeking the top stop at the IAEA, on Ban's meeting with South Korean politicians at the UN while Ban was preparing his abortive run for President. What was Kyung-wha Kang's role in the UN OCHA "functional review" Inner City Press exclusively reported on, and after which she (temporarily) resigned? What if anything did she know about Ban's relatives using the name of the UN to try to sell real estate in Viet Nam? On May 22 Inner City Press asked Ban's holdover spokesman Stephane Dujarric, video here, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: there are many people congratulating Ms. Kyung-wha Kang. she was asked, and she said that she's got the appointment because based on knowledge she's gained while at the UN, et cetera. She was questioned at JFK Airport by South Korean media. And so the question has arisen. There's staff regulations and rules that say whatever knowledge you gain while working for the UN, you cannot deploy at a Government. So, given that she used this very word, I just wanted to know, how does it work at the UN to ensure… I know that Ms. [Susana] Malcorra, there was something similar, but is there guidance from the Secretariat to say what can and cannot be used when you go immediately from the Secretariat to a Government?
Spokesman: I think… first of all, I think I would add my congratulations to her. Second of all, I have no doubt that Ms. Kang will live up to the highest ethical standards as it pertains to the issues you raise. Third, I think there is a difference between experience and knowledge. And I think the way the rules are written, it's about using specific knowledge of issue… of things as opposed to experience one gains over one's professional life.
Spokesman: I think… first of all, I think I would add my congratulations to her. Second of all, I have no doubt that Ms. Kang will live up to the highest ethical standards as it pertains to the issues you raise. Third, I think there is a difference between experience and knowledge. And I think the way the rules are written, it's about using specific knowledge of issue… of things as opposed to experience one gains over one's professional life.
The reliably craven pro-Ban Korea Times said Moon Jae-in should make Ban a "pleni-potentiary" envoy - but why? Even the Korea Times admits Ban accomplished little at the UN except "rubbing shoulders;" they call Ban's cut-short campaign against Moon Jae-in "half-baked." They neglect to say it failed amid the indictment of Ban's brother and nephew for using the UN and Ban to try to sell real estate in Vietnam. This should disqualify Ban from any envoy position too. Even at a UN event on May 11 the talk was of how low Ban brought the UN; ironically the event was one that Ban's censorship of Press coverage of his corruption made it impossible for Inner City Press to attend substantive parts of. This must be addressed. So what of Ban's long time aide Kim Won-soo, recently replaced in the UN Disarmament post Ban gave him? Sources complain to Inner City Press they've seen Kim Won-soo using the access that UN post gave him to try to run for Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Ahmet Üzümcü was elected back in 2009. The OPCW's Executive Council meets October 10-13, 2017. We'll have more on that - and this, that while Ban may be immune in the two UN bribery cases in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, he may not be in South Korea. Ban's use of his UN pedigree to promote himself, even after his relatives used the UN to try to sell real estate, continues - now in stealth, he thinks. Claiming to be a scapegoat, even after he engaged in censorship to cover up his relatives' and officials' links to the two ongoing UN-related corruption cases still pending in the US District Court for the Southern District of NY, Ban on April 25 told at the Kennedy School, "Most of the UN staff address me like ‘SG’ instead of Secretary-General because it is too long. At the same time, ‘SG’ stands for ‘scapegoat.’ Whatever goes wrong, that’s all the United Nations Secretary-General’s fault." Well, the corruption and censorship were and are. And Ban's censor in chief Cristina Gallach, even no longer at the UN, is re-tweeting her old Ban-like speech, perhaps hoping for a second bite at the apple. We'll have more on this. Ban's attempt to run for the presidency of South Korea flamed out in three weeks. But now, only after Ahn Cheol-soo said Ban might become a "special diplomatic envoy," Ban's supporters have said they will vote for Ahn Cheol-soo. Quid pro quo, at least slightly more transparent than the stealth way Ban was unwisely put atop the UN for ten years, and brought it to its low position, including on Yemen, late and weak action on the Internet cut in Cameroon and continued restrictions on the Press even in UN Headquarters. (Meanwhile, in South Korea VP Mike Pence is visiting the DMZ from a wrongly described "UN" joint base: more on this to follow.) For Ban, an attempt is made to characterize as "fake news" the Press' factual reporting on the indictment by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York of Ban's brother Ban Ki-sang and nephew Dennis Bahn. The Korea Times "reports" that "Fake news was one of the reasons former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon dropped his presidential bid. Even before his return home from New York in January after wrapping up his 10-year service at the U.N., corruption allegations were leveled against members of his family. Ban dismissed them as part of a fake news campaign intended to tarnish his image." Ban and his spokesman Stephane Dujarric didn't just "dismiss" the use of the UN by Ban Ki-sang in Vietnam and Ban Ki-ho in Myanmar - they evicted without any hearing the Press which uncovered them, and Dujarric keeps it restricted to this day, most recently on April 13 calling "harassment" the Press' criticism of UN officials' performance. Ban Ki-moon brought the UN low on press freedom and it has yet to rehabilitate itself. The UN is characterized by impunity. On April 6 Harvard confirmed Ban'll have a non-teaching position there for the rest of the spring - Ban previously bragged after flaming out in his South Korea campaign that he would get a car and driver - in an article in the Crimson which does not mention his relatives' indictments. We'll have more on this. While Ban was chased out of the political race for president of South Korea after a mere three weeks, he has reportedly make a political endorsement... in Los Angeles, for Robert Ahn running for the Congressional seat in the 34th District: "He has been endorsed by former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon." Well. Ahn came in behind, but will have a run-off with, Jimmy Gomez. Not endorsed by Ban in this Los Angelese race were Yolie Flores, William “Rodriguez” Morrison, Kenneth Mejia, and tenants’ rights paralegal Angela E. McArdle; Mark Edward Padilla and Vanessa Aramayo, a nonprofit director; Maria Cabildo, an economic development director; Alejandra Campoverdi, a multicultural community advocate; Arturo Carmona, a presidential campaign adviser; Ricky De La Fuente, a businessman; Adrienne Edwards, a community organizer; Melissa “Sharkie” Garza, a businesswoman and producer; Sara Hernandez, an education nonprofit director; Steven Mac, a military officer and prosecutor; Angela McArdle, a tenants’ rights paralegal; Sandra Mendoza, an educator and public administrator; Raymond Meza, a community organizer; Armando Sotomayor, a community volunteer; Richard Sullivan, an attorney; Tracy Van Houten, an aerospace engineer; and Tenaya Wallace, a civic engagement strategist. Can Ban go lower?
Arirang News, which Ban had his hatchet-women from Spain Cristina Gallach include in the UN's in-house network, "reported" on Ban grabbing an award from the World Tourism Organization for having... visited this WTO's headquarters in Spain. This is pathetic. Days after the firing of Preet Bharara, who indicted Ban Ki-moon's brother Ki-sang and nephew Dennis Bahn for UN-related corruption, Ban Ki-moon is bragging he will get free housing and a no-show job from Harvard University. Ban says he'll cash in with "a secretary and a residence for him and his wife Yoo Soon-taek" and only "hold occasional seminars as a visiting professor." But who will want to hear them? Maybe those facing indictment of close family members and unanswered questions about others, Ban Ki-ho mining in Myanmar, but still looking to save face. Ban's nephew Dennis Bahn had his position at New York University withdrawn after the corruption indictment. What will happen with his Uncle Ban Ki-moon?
After the South Korean court ruling finally impeaching Park Geun-hye, not only her corruption but that of Ban Ki-moon comes to the fore. Hypocrisy, too: Ban Ki-moon, who left the lawless UN as his relatives were indicted for UN-related bribery, having evicted the Press which asked about it, pontificated about the "rule of law." Using media friendly to him, Ban was quoted that "the people, especially those who protested against the impeachment, must accept the ruling. Only then can the rule of law, which is the basic value of the Korean Constitution, stand upright."
Ban dodged the charges and evicted the Press which pursued them, only to see himself exposed as corrupt in three short weeks in South Korea, dropping out of campaigning before even declaring. Now he tried to cash out to Harvard, which would be a travesty.
In February Ban Ki-moon grabbed up yet another obscure award, in Los Angeles. There was no live stream, and the link to sponsor -- providing money like Ban collected $100,000 sponsorships as recently as October 2016 -- led nowhere. How quickly the Emperor has been exposed as having no clothes. But will Harvard still pay to collect fossils?
