Ban Ki-moon is a diplomat and Korean politician. He was secretary-general of the United Nations from 2007 to 2016.

In 1962, he won a competition that took him to San Francisco, where he studied for several months. In addition to Korean, Ban Ki-moon is fluent in English and French. He holds a BA in International Relations and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard in 1975. From 1978 to 1980, he served as First Secretary of the UN Mission in South Korea.

Alternately Director of the United Nations Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Security Advisor to Kim Young-sam, Han Seung-soo's Chief of Staff, and then President of the UN General Assembly, Ban Ki-moon progressively increased the ranks of the UN between 1978 and 2002. He was appointed head of the South Korean diplomacy in 2004 until the end of 2006. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of his country between January 2004 and November 2006. On January 1, 2007 he returned to the United Nations where he succeeded Kofi Annan as Secretary-General of the United Nations.