01 February 2017•Update: 02 February 2017
By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
Ex-UN chief Ban Ki-moon has surprised political allies and foes by announcing he will not be running in this year’s South Korean presidential election.
The election is scheduled to take place in December but could be brought forward due to suspended President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment.
Ban issued a statement at a swiftly arranged news conference at Seoul’s parliamentary complex on Wednesday.
“I will give up my pure aspiration to achieve a change in politics under my leadership and unify the country,” he was quoted as telling reporters by Yonhap News Agency.
The 72-year-old was seen as the nation’s strongest conservative successor after returning to South Korea from his UN post in New York just last month.
His homecoming followed a major power abuse scandal involving Park and numerous government officials, but Ban also felt compelled to threaten legal action against local media raising separate bribery allegations against him.
He went from leading Realmeter’s popularity ratings in December to falling more than 17 percentage points behind main opposition Democratic Party contender Moon Jae-in in a survey released by the same pollster at the start of this week.
“My pure patriotism and ambitions along with my cause for change in politics have dissipated due to slander, close to personality murder, and various fake news reports,” Ban said Wednesday.
It leaves Moon in an even stronger position to succeed Park, who is awaiting a Constitutional Court ruling on multiple power abuse charges.
If Park is ousted by the court, it could mean a snap election as soon as May.
Based on early campaign promises, a victory for the Democratic Party would likely signal a shift towards warmer relations with North Korea and China -- and an uncertain future for ties with South Korea’s long-standing military ally, the United States.
