Marriage: Yoo Soon-taek (1971-present)

Children: Hyun-hee, Woo-hyun and Seon-yong

Education: Seoul National University, B.A., 1970; Harvard University, M.A., 1985

Other Facts
Name is pronounced Bahn Gi-moon, with the K uttered as a hard “g”.

As a teen, he won a Red Cross-sponsored trip to the United States. He met President John F. Kennedy, and decided then that he wanted to become a diplomat.

Timeline:
1970 – Passes the South Korean Foreign Service exam.

1972-1974 – Vice-consul, South Korean Consulate General in India

1974-1978 – Second Secretary, South Korean Embassy in India.

1978-1980 – Secretary, South Korean Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations.

1987-1990 – Consul General, South Korean Embassy to the US in Washington, D.C.

1992-1995 – Minister, South Korean Embassy to the US.

1996 – National Security Adviser to South Korean President Kim Young-sam.

1998-2000 – South Korean Ambassador to Austria.

1999 – Chairman of the preparatory commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization.

2001-2002 – Chef de Cabinet during the South Korean presidency of the UN General Assembly.

2003 – Foreign Policy Adviser to the South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.

January 2004 – Appointed South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

February 14, 2006 – Officially declares his candidacy for secretary-general.

October 13, 2006 – Appointed by the UN General Assembly.

January 1, 2007-December 31, 2016 – Serves as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations.

March 22, 2007 – Makes an unannounced visit to Baghdad, Iraq to meet with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. During a live news conference with al-Maliki in Baghdad’s Green Zone, a rocket hits just outside the room, and Ban is visibly startled though unhurt.

January 20, 2009 – Tours the burned out ruins of the UN compound in Gaza City which was destroyed by an Israeli bomb.

June 21, 2011 – Ban is appointed to a second term as UN secretary-general, by acclamation.
December 9, 2011 – Ban pays an unannounced visit to Mogadishu, Somalia, the first time a UN chief has visited Somalia in nearly 20 years.
April 30, 2012 – Addresses Myanmar‘s Parliament, becoming the first foreigner to do so since military rule began in 1962.
August 29-31, 2012 – Visits Tehran, Iran, for the meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement.
January 2014 – Invites Iran to attend the Geneva Conference on Syria. The Syrian opposition threatens not to attend the meeting if Iran takes part. The Iranian invitation is withdrawn.
March 2014 – Meets with members of political parties in Kiev, Ukraine.

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