MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

South Korean favored to become Kofi Annan successor

South Korea's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ban Ki-Moon has the support from the United Nations Security Council permanent members to become the next Secretary General.

Diplomatic sources in United Nations, and China's ambassador Wang Guangya, said Monday that Mr. Ban is strongly favored to become the successor of current Secretary General Kofi Annan.

"It was plain clear in today's informal straw vote that Minister Ban Ki-Moon is the candidate that the Security Council will recommend" to the General Assembly advanced the Chinese ambassador.

Qatar UN ambassador Nasser al-Nasser revealed that 14 out of 15 members of the Security Council voted for Minister Ki-Moon, with the last vote saying "he had no opinion on the issue".

To be named UN Secretary General nine votes of the Security Council are needed, however the support from the five permanent members must be unanimous.

Ban Ki-Moon who has a diplomatic career spanning over thirty years is the first South Korean to run in the election for Secretary General.

In a recent speech in New York, Ban Ki-Moon said the world needs a strong and more dynamic and vigorous United Nations. He said the "organization is over-stretched and fatigued" and if the vitality is to be restored "deep political fault lines that have hardened over the years" need to be addressed.

Mr Ban says he would like to join the voices calling for a greater sense of trust and common purpose, among the large and small powers, the rich and poor countries and between member states and the secretariat.

"For this, each and every stake-holder, player, must stop blaming each other and start taking responsibility," he said.

"We must all share the blame. We must all be accountable-to ourselves and to others, and to our future generations."

Ban Ki-Moon describes himself as an optimist, and says he is convinced that the best days for the global organization have yet to come.

"We Koreans have quite literally risen from the ashes of war. We have done so through hard work, commitment, dedication and the help of friends, and particularly the United Nations," he said.

"Now we stand ready to pay back what we have owed to the United Nations and the international community. We wish to become the strongest advocate of the agendas of the United Nations, be it peace, development or human rights".