Former UN Secretary of General Ban Kim-moon plans to deliver a lecture at a local seminar this week, making his first public appearance since giving up his presidential ambitions, his aides said Sunday.
Ban is to give a lecture at the seminar to be hosted by the Korea Institute for National Security Affairs, according to the aides. His lecture is likely to focus on elaborating his thoughts on the latest diplomatic and security situations on and around the Korean Peninsula.
Ban Ki-moon (Yonhap)
This will mark his first public appearance since he made it clear early in February that he will not run in the presidential election expected to take place in the months to come.
Even before his return to Korea on Jan. 12 after 10 years of service at the global organization, Ban, a former foreign minister, had been touted as one of the most competitive presidential candidates for the conservative block.
He, however, had been dogged by corruption allegations involving him and his relatives along with controversial and sometimes mistaken remarks on keen pending issues that drew criticism from political rivals and media.
He is said to leave for the United States later this month to take a short-term professor job at Harvard University. (Yonhap)