Ban Ki-moon was born in Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province, in 1944. He moved to Chungju when he was a first-grader and always came top of his class. Before his father's warehouse1 business went bankrupt2, he lived in an affluent3 environment. “Ki-moon, the eldest of our parents' four sons and two daughters, was always a top performer in school since elementary school. His brothers and sisters had to bear the title ‘Ki-moon's brother or sister’ during their school years,” his youngest sister Ban Kyung-hee said.
Language Skills
What he is today is partly due to his excellent language skills. When Ki-moon was a middle school student, his English teacher told students to write out what they had learned on the day 10 times. Ban faithfully followed and that way memorized4 whole English sentences. He was even able to make English educational materials for his classmates when he was a high school freshman.
A chance to improve his English further came thanks to5 the Chungju fertilizer factory. Some 20 American engineers and their family members were living nearby. The wives of the American engineers took turns6 and taught people to speak English, and Ban Ki-moon from Chungju High School was the top. He memorized whatever was written in English like a madman.
When he was a high school junior, Ban was chosen to participate in the VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program. In all, four students were selected from Korea and when Ban made it, “the whole city was overjoyed.”(Ban's brother Ban Ki-sang). When the time came for him to visit the U.S. for a month in the summer of his high school senior year, students at Chungju Girls High School delivered the lucky bags they made as gift for Americans to Ban.
Yoo Soon-taek, who was the school's student council president, represented her school—and got married to Ban in 1971, a year after he passed the national diplomat's exam. Their union began in a humble single room in Seoul. On his trip to the U.S., Ban and the other foreign students met President John F. Kennedy in Washington. Ban has often looked at his picture with the president during his rise from a career diplomat to foreign minister and, probably, UN secretary-general.
Career Decisions
After his family became financially strapped7, Ban had to work his way through school and received his bachelor's degree in international relations from Seoul National University. He passed the national diplomat's exam second after later foreign minister Choi Sung-hong. At the time, Ban told his family, “I've always been top; this is the first time in my life that I've slid to second place.” He was No. 1 again among new diplomats waiting for their first assignment after arduous8 training, when he got an assignment to the Korean Embassy in the U.S. But instead, he volunteered to work in India.“Ki-moon volunteered to work in India to offer financial support to our family,” his brother Ki-sang recalls.“He thought that if he worked in the U.S., he wouldn't be able to save money.”
Working in India, Ban met Lho Shin-young, who was to have a great influence on Ban's life as a diplomat. Lho had been sent to India to help Korea establish bilateral9 ties, and noticed that Ban had superb10 English skills, agility11, good judgment and diligence.
After becoming the Korean Ambassador to India after the two nations established diplomatic ties in 1973, Lho publicly praised Ban in a meeting. In his memoirs12, Lho recalled his days in India and wrote,“Ban Ki-moon, who would help me and do many things(in India), was still newly married the first time I met him.” Lho soon became head of what was then the Agency for National Security Planning and the nation's prime minister, and he appointed Ban as senior protocol13 secretary to the prime minister. That was the start of what seemed Ban's unstoppable14 rise through the ranks.
New UN Chief
It's wonderful when teenage dreams come true after a lot of hard work. Ban Ki-Moon, foreign minister of the Republic of Korean (ROK), knows this only too well. He dreamt of being a diplomat from a young age and now the 62-year-old has become the world's top diplomat.
On Oct. 13, 2006, the UN Security Council appointed Ban to take the place of15 Kofi Annan. And this January he became the first Asian to take the post in 35 years.
Annan congratulated his successor16, hailing17 him as“a man with a truly global mind”. And he repeated the greeting made more than 50 years ago by the first UN secretary general, Norway's Trygve Lie:“You are about to take over18 the most impossible job on Earth.”
Ban's down-to-earth19 efforts gave him the ability to get along with20 everyone. After being a diplomat for 36 years, he made many friends but no enemies. But critics think his gentleness might make him ready to give in21. They doubt whether he can take a strong stand on22 burning issues like the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's(DPRK) nuclear programme.
As the DPRK announced a successful nuclear test, experts said the UN's new boss would be challenged by his first tough task. But Ban, who played a leading role in past nuclear talks with DPRK, seems to have his own ideas23.
“Ban has a typical oriental style, mild but determined.” Says Yoon Young-Kwan, former foreign minister of the ROK.“he may look soft from the outside, but inside he has strong views.”
1944年，潘基文出生于韩国忠清北道的阴城郡，一年级时搬到了忠州市。在学校里，他总是名列前茅。在父亲所经营的仓储生意破产以前，他的家庭生活殷实富足。他最小的妹妹潘庆希说：“我的父母育有四个儿子和两个女儿，基文排行老大。从小学起，他一直出类拔萃，以至于我们这些弟妹在学生时代，常被人称为‘潘基文的弟弟或妹妹’。”
语言能力
他之所以有今天部分得益于他非凡的语言能力。在中学时代，英语老师让学生把当天所学的内容抄写10遍，但是潘基文不仅忠实地抄写，而且把所有英语句子背了下来。到了高一，他甚至能够给同学们准备英语学习材料。
忠州化肥厂为他进一步提高英语提供了大好机会。大约20名美国工程师及其家属住在附近。这些工程师的夫人们轮流教大家说英语，而忠州中学的潘基文是最好的学生。他就像着了魔似地把英语材料统统背下来。
高二时，潘基文被挑选出来参加美国志愿服务队（VISTA）。当时，韩国各地仅选派四名学生，而潘基文就是其中之一。“整个忠州市都为之雀跃。”（潘基文之弟潘基生语）。高三暑期，他赴美访问一个月。临行前，忠州女子高中的学生们把她们制作的福袋交给潘基文，让他转赠美国人。
时任女子中学学生会主席的柳淳泽代表她的学校，参加交接活动。1971年，也就是潘基文通过国家外交官考试的第二年，她嫁给了潘基文，并在首尔的一间简陋住房里开始了他们的婚姻生活。访美期间，潘基文和其他外国学生一起在华盛顿见到了约翰·弗·肯尼迪。在从职业外交官到外长，甚至联合国秘书长的升迁过程中，潘基文常常凝视自己与肯尼迪总统的合影。
职业选择
家庭生活陷入经济困境之后，潘基文只得边学习边工作，终于获得了首尔国立大学的国际关系学士学位，还通过了国家外交官考试，成绩仅次于第一名的前外交部长崔成鸿。那时，潘基文告诉家人：“我一直是第一名；这是我一生中第一次滑到了第二位。”经过刻苦训练，他又从等待任命的新外交官中脱颖而出，成为佼佼者，并被派往韩国驻美大使馆工作。但是，他却志愿前往印度工作。“基文选择去印度工作是为了能在经济上支持家里，”他的弟弟基生回忆说，“他认为去美国工作，难以存钱。”
在印度工作期间，潘基文遇到了卢信永。他对潘基文的外交官生涯产生了重大的影响。当时，卢信永被派往印度，磋商韩印双边关系。他注意到了潘基文英语能力非凡，处事敏捷，具有良好的判断力而且十分勤奋。
1973年，韩印建立外交关系之后，卢信永成为了韩国第一任驻印大使。他在一次会上公开表扬了潘基文。在回忆录中，卢回忆起在印度的日子，写道：“我第一次见到潘基文时，他还是新婚燕尔，在印度给我以帮助，做了很多事情。”很快，卢信永又升任国家安全计划署的负责人和政府总理，并且任命潘基文为总理的高级礼宾秘书。那是潘基文在官场扶摇直上的开始。
联合国新掌门
经过艰苦努力，少年时代的梦想终于成真了，实在令人高兴。韩国外交通商部长官潘基文对此深有体会。从年轻时代，他一直梦想当一名外交官，而今六十有二，他成为世界顶级外交官。
2006年10月13日，联合国安理会任命潘基文接替科菲·安南。今年一月，他成为了35年来首次问鼎联合国秘书长宝座的亚洲人。
安南祝贺他的继任者，称他为“一个真正心系全球的人”。他再次重复了50多年前首任联合国秘书长挪威人特里格夫·赖伊的贺词：“你将接任地球上一项最棘手的工作。”
潘基文脚踏实地的努力使他具有了与所有人打交道的能力。作为外交官，36年来，他交了许多朋友，却从不与人为敌。但是，也有批评者认为他的温和作风可能使他易于妥协。他们怀疑他是否能在诸如朝鲜人民民主共和国(北朝鲜)核计划这样的棘手问题上采取强硬立场。
就在北朝鲜宣布成功进行了核试验时，专家们说联合国的新当家将面临第一项棘手工作。但是，在以往与北朝鲜核谈判一直扮演重要角色的潘基文似乎是自有主张。
“潘基文具有东方人的典型风格，性格温和，但意志坚定。”韩国前外长尹永宽说，“表面上，他似乎很温和；但在内心里，他具有坚定的信念。”
1. warehouse n. 货栈，仓库
2. go bankrupt 破产bankrupt adj. 破产的，无力还债的
3. affluent adj. 殷实的，富裕的
4. memorize v. 记住，记录
5. thanks to多亏，由于，归功于
6. take turns 轮流
7. strapped adj. 身无分文的
8. arduous adj. 艰难的，费劲的
9. bilateral adj. 双边的
10. superb adj. 极好的，非凡的
11. agility n. 敏捷，灵活
12. memoir n. 回忆录，回忆文章
13. protocol n. 礼仪
14. unstoppable adj. 无法停止的，无法阻碍的
15. take the place of 接替，代替
16. successor n. 继任者，接班人
17. hail sb. as 热情地称某人为…
18. take over 接手，接任
19. down-to-earth 切实的，实事求是的
20. get along with... 与…相处
21. give in 妥协
22. take a stand on 采取…立场
23. have one's own ideas 自有主张