UN/Korea

Millions of dollars and a piano may put Korean in UN's top job
By Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor, Richard Lloyd Parry, and James Bone

Aid campaign is crucial in race to succeed Kofi Annan


SOUTH KOREA has pledged millions of dollars in aid and offered other incentives to members of the United Nations Security Council to secure its candidate as the next UN secretary-general.

An investigation by The Times has disclosed that the South Koreans have been waging an aggressive campaign on behalf of Ban Ki Moon, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the front-runner to replace Kofi Annan as UN chief at the end of the year. The inducements range from tens of millions of pounds of extra funding for African countries to lucrative trade agreements in Europe — and even the gift of a grand piano to Peru.Times

Rivals have privately grumbled that South Korea, which has the world's 11th-largest economy, has wielded its economic might to generate support for his candidacy. They cited South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun's trade mission earlier this month to Greece, which holds the Security Council's presidency. The visit, the first by a South Korean leader to Greece since 1961, concluded with the signing of trade and tourism agreements.washingtonpos

So when will the truth come out?