Outgoing UN chief criticized lack of 'good governance' in S. Korea

By Park Sae-jin Posted : December 19, 2016, 10:47 Updated : December 19, 2016, 10:47

[AP/Yonhap News Photo]


Breaking from his temperate indifference about politics in his homeland, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made critical remarks on what he described as the lack of "good governance" surrounding President Park Geun-hye.

Ban expressed surprise over political turmoil caused by a corruption scandal that has seen millions of citizens taking to the streets for protests calling for Park's resignation, saying South Koreans believed "the trust on and for the leadership of country was betrayed".

"It's again very surprising for me," the UN chief said in a speech last week at the Council on Foreign Relations, a US think-tank. "I believe that during my seven-decades-long life as a South Korean citizen, we have not been experiencing this kind of political turmoil except when there was" the 1950-53 Korean War, he said.

Ban, whose second five-year term as UN chief ends this month, has distanced himself from being involved in political affairs in South Korea, although he is regarded as a potential candidate in next year's presidential election.

Park's conservative Saenuri Party once suggested that it would welcome Ban as its presidential candidate. But political pundits believe the outgoing UN chief faces an uncertain future when he comes back to South Korea as the ruling party is engulfed in a serious internal dispute.

Referring to the 1979 assassination of Park's father by his intelligence chief, Ban said Koreans were going through a turbulent period this time "in a very peaceful society, very democratic, economically well-to-do society".

"The people were very much frustrated and angry about the complete lack of good governance. And they believed that the trust on and for the leadership of country was betrayed," Ban said. "That's why people became much more frustrated and angry."

Polls showed Ban's popularity has waned at home because South Korean voters associate him with Saenuri.
기사 이미지 확대 보기
닫기