The new United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, took his oath of office on Dec. 14 and formally assumes his post as this new year arrives. He would seem to have a full plate of issues to worry about: the Middle East's problems seem to be getting worse, if anything, and his own country is involved in a standoff with a neighbor with nuclear pretensions.

Many South Koreans identified his election with their own success. From the rumbles of a war-torn country, South Koreans have feverishly worked to catapult their country into the 10th-largest economy in the world, but they lacked a figure who was truly visibly on the international stage. Now they have one in the new UN secretary general.

Coming from a country that has worked around the clock for the past five decades to be where it is today may help Mr. Ban in his new job. Among other things, he has pledged to reform the world body, which is seen as inefficient, crippled by bureaucracy and laced with corruption.

His first test of diplomatic maneuvering will come when he starts to fill several key posts at the UN, such as the head of peacekeeping, during the first part of this year. He has to keep the old guard, the five veto-wielding powers, happy in those appointments, but also needs to meet the expectations of minor countries who hope that they too will get some crown jewels of UN positions.

Mr. Ban's personality could help him maneuver through the complex web of international relations at UN headquarters. With the nickname "slippery eel" from the South Korean press for his ability to elude sensitive questions by saying a lot of little meaning, many of those same reporters here would also agree that Mr. Ban is a true yangban, the equivalent of an English gentleman.

That tribute stems mainly from his gentle smile and soft-spoken manner. But he is judged by some as indecisive and too passive, a label he rejects by noting that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Many South Korean officials who have worked with Mr. Ban describe him as a person with a soft exterior but great inner strength.

When he was sworn in last month, Mr. Ban vowed to make the UN a "dynamic and courageous" organization and a place of the highest ethical standards as a way of restoring trust in it. His main focus, he said, would be security, development and human rights.

On security matters, the secretary general has already set his eyes on the Korean Peninsula. As a South Korean, his first-hand knowledge of the North gives him an edge in managing the North Korean nuclear problem, at least in Korean eyes, although many other observers wonder if he is carrying too much baggage to look at the problem objectively. Before taking up his UN position, he said that he would use his influence actively to try to defuse tensions here, and has offered to appoint a special envoy to deal with North Korea. That seemed to ring alarm bells for Wang Guangya, China's ambassador to the United Nations, who warned in an interview with Bloomberg that Mr. Ban's involvement had to be "informal, low key, silent."

Certainly, especially in light of the differences of opinion the Korean administration has with countries such as Japan and the United States on dealing with North Korea, many eyes will be on Mr. Ban to see if he can dispel suspicions that he may be influenced too heavily by South Korean positions on North Korean affairs.

Mr. Ban's election could also change the way Koreans look at the world, again partly through an element of appealing to that sense of shame.

Foreign aid allocations by Seoul are arguably far less proportionally than those of other nations, and administration officials claim that sentiment in the National Assembly still is that Korea must focus on feeding its own people, not the poor elsewhere. As foreign minister, Mr. Ban seemed to be trying to nudge his government in the opposite direction, urging Koreans to broaden their international role.

Mr. Ban survived a last-man-standing election process because he had offended no one. But if he hopes to make the UN into a courageous organization, he may find that no longer possible.

(Source: JoongAng Daily)