'I will respond when needed,' says Ban Ki-moon

'I will respond when needed,' says Ban Ki-moon. April. 10, 2017 07:11. by Chan-Wuk Song song@donga.com.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon left Korea on Saturday as a visiting professor to lecture former national leaders at Harvard University for three months. Around two months have passed since he announced his resignation to run for the presidency on Feb. 1.

Ban met reporters just before the departure at Incheon International Airport, and gave a positive response to the offer from Ahn Cheol-soo, presidential candidate of the People's Party, of assigning him to the special envoy. "As a citizen of the Republic of Korea, I will serve my duties," the former UN chief said. "It will be a given job for any Korean to actively respond to any request when my experiences are required, regardless of who will become the next president."

Ban cited "fake news" as one of the reasons for dropping out of the presidential race. On the recent heightening negative attacks between candidates, he said, "As a person who was a victim of negative campaigning, I would like to reiterate the importance of shifting to presidential election where the public screens candidates based on competency, judgement and vision."