The UN Security Council Thursday agreed to recommend incumbent Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to serve a second five-year term beginning in 2012, dpa quoted the council president as saying Thursday. Gabon's UN Ambassador Nelson Messone said the 15-nation council approved by acclamation during a closed door meeting a draft resolution recommending Ban to the UN General Assembly, which will make the final decision. Ban is running unopposed. Messone said the council on Friday would "formally vote by acclamation their recommendation to the General Assembly for the election of the secretary general." Ban announced last week his intention to run for re-election to the post of UN secretary general and informed the council of his decision. His term expires on December 31. He has been an avid traveler during his first term, campaigning for UN programmes like climate change and ending conflicts in Africa. He acknowledged that climate challenge is a difficult topic, but has raised awareness about the threat facing the world. Ban, 67, assumed the top UN post on January 1, 2007 following 35 years in the diplomatic service of the South Korean government. He was a foreign minister before being elected to the UN post. As South Korea's top diplomat, Ban was involved - albeit unsuccessfully - in dispute settlement efforts over North Korea's nuclear ambitions and in inter-Korean dialogue on various issues, including family reunions between North and South Korea. Ban began his diplomatic career in New Delhi and served also at his country's US embassy in Washington. He was director general of American affairs at the foreign ministry in Seoul from 1990 to 1992. In 1995, he became deputy minister for policy planning and then national security advisor to the South Korean president in 1996. Ban received his bachelor's degree in international relations from Seoul National University in 1970, and earned a master's degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1985. Ban is married to Yoo Soon-taek, whom he first met at high school in 1962 and who has been his closest partner throughout his many career turns. They have one son and two daughters.
