As Ban Ki-moon Leaves S. Korea, Slams Coverage of "Off the Record" Campaigning, Evicted Press

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 30 -- When Ban Ki-moon wrapped up his five day campaign trip in South Korea with a three-question "press conference" at the UN's DPI-NGO conference, without irony he cited media freedom.

Then Ban criticized "coverage of what was supposed to be off-the-record meeting with the Kwanhoon Club" of political correspondents. Even during Ban's long visit to South Korea, Inner City Press in New York where it has been evicted from its long time shared UN office and confined to minders, told not to question diplomats asked the UN why no transcript was provided of Ban's session with the Kwanhoon Club.

   Ban's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq - his lead spokesman Stephane Dujarric accompanied him for the whole Korea trip -- replied that sometimes Ban gives “exclusives” even to small groups of journalists. But the photo with the Kwanhun Club shows more than a dozen journalists. Photo here.

   To read a canned statement purporting to defend press freedom while not only evicting the Press but trying to manipulate the media with different private and public messages is noteworthy. To talk about “authoritarian impulses” while having the investigative Press ousted and its files dumped onto First Avenue is doubly so. Background here.

This while at the UN in New York, the investigative Press has been oust and then evicted, with its long time office being given to Egyptian state media Akhbar Elyom, which never comes in, much less asks any questions. Click here for background.

   Ban spoke about freedom of movement, while Inner City Press is now required to have minders in order to cover meetings on the second floor of the UN Conference building, in the ECOSOC and Trusteeship Council Chambers, and has been told not to ask questions of diplomats.

  Ban went out of his way to praise the current African trip of South Korean President Park - he did not mention her Iran trip - and directly addressed South Korean youth, some of whom may be old enough to vote in 2017. Opening speeches, particularly by the national organizer(s), were largely about Ban Ki-moon.

  Those present marveled at how actual NGOs were pushed to the back of the room, with the front rows devoted to South Korean official (including some from the UN). Tweeted photo here, reply here. Will Ban Ki-moon endeavor to live up in New York, in his remaining time at the UN, to what he said at the DPI-NGO conference? Watch this site.

Soon to be ex-UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is in his native South Korea, where there is a Presidential election in 2017. On May 19, only to South Korean correspondents, Ban Ki-moon's senior adviser Kim Won-soo said and was quoted that Ban's is NOT a political trip. Clearly it is. Ban's "exclusive" comments to more than a dozen journalists in South Korea, photo here, were not transcribed despite the request of the Free UN Coalition for Access.

But there's a problem: not only Inner City Press -- see article in the Kyunghyang Daily News, robo-translated -- but now The Economist calls Ban Ki-moon the worst and weakest Secretary General ever. What has now been transcribed, in their way, are Ban's remarks to the South Korean organizing committee for the DPI NGO conference, including "make sure that we have education, global education and put all [the] millions[of] children who are out of school [in]. Korea's success in this world is largely owing to quality education. Korean parents, [the] Korean government; they have sacrificed everything in their possessions for quality education for their children."

 Ban made no reference to the scandal in his UN of South South News, Ng Lap Seng and the new constellations about which there is also no due diligence. This does not help development, or the NGO world. We'll have more on this.

 And as Inner City Press has asked basic questions about Ban's use of UN resources and had them dodged, now the media in South Korea is taking notice. The Hankyoreh of May 28, here, reports on Inner City Press asking "whether Ban was aware of UN Resolution II (I), which was adopted at the first General Assembly in 1946 and restricts secretaries-general from taking government positions soon after their term ends... But Haq’s response appeared to be to a completely different question - neither communicating Ban’s response nor mentioning the resolution." Slippery or greasy eel.

(Hankyoreh also says "The unusual spectacle of the Secretary-General’s actions becoming the major issue in a UN briefing - which is typically reserved for major worldwide issues - hints that the controversy over Ban’s political plans could be shaping into an international diplomatic issue." A simple review of recent UN noon briefing transcripts or videos would call this into question - but it has become the party line, as in the New York Times of May 14.)

Meanwhile on May 28 Ban continued his politics, meeting with retired politicians, such as former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil. On May 29 he'll speak at " Rotary International Convention in Goyang, just outside of Seoul, and visit the ruling party stronghold of Gyeongsang to tour a UNESCO-listed folk village on Sunday." Since these are NOT on his public UN schedule, does it mean they are personal / political? Inner city Press asked - and now the speech, such as it is, has been released: a portion:

"I have attended many events with Rotarians. We have forged warm personal ties. I will never forget taking part in the centennial in Birmingham in the United Kingdom. We arrived to see the flags of more than 150 countries – and the friendly Rotarians in their yellow vests."

The Rotary event has, as at least $25,000 sponsors, KEB Hana Bank and Shinhan Bank. We'll have more on this.

And then the UN DPI NGO conference, on which we'll have more as well. Watch this site.

Ban can and has evicted Inner City Press from its long time office at the UN -- but he can't change the track record, from his victory lap in Sri Lanka in 2009, which Inner City Press reported on, to further damaging the UN's reputation in Haiti by insisting on impunity for cholera, to his negligent overseeing of rapes in the Central African Republic. For the record, what Inner City Press told the Kyunghyang Shinmun, when asked about the eviction and ouster, was not entirely negative. But more on that to follow. 

 On May 27, Inner City Press asked Ban's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, video here, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press:  I want to ask you about this trip this South Korea.  First, I mean, if you look in today’s DPI [Department of Public Information] clips, virtually all the stories are about Ban Ki-moon running.  There’s one in particular that says the people assisting him with his run.  It names a former South Korean ambassador here, the current ambassador here, which is totally in their freedom to do it.  But it also names Mr. Kim Won-soo.  This is not something the UN is not aware of.  It’s included by DPI in the news clips.  So the question arises — has Mr. Kim sought some kind of guidance from the ethics office what the balance of his time would be, or is it his position that despite public reporting that this is what he’s working on that because you say he’s not, he’s not?

Deputy Spokesman:  He’s working as the head of the Office of Disarmament Affairs.  That’s the work that he does.  If he needs to change that at some point, he would need to let us know.  But right now, this is the work he is doing.

Question:  Again, in the clips that you have, it says that the Under-Secretary-General Kim, one of Ban’s closest confidants, has made frequent reports about domestic situations to Ban.  Is this false?  And is he only doing this about disarmament issues or about what other?

Deputy Spokesman:  He has a range of responsibilities on disarmament work, and that is what he does for the Secretary-General.  That’s his job.

 On May 26, Inner City Press asked Ban's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, video here UN transcript here:

Inner City Press:  I wanted to ask you more about the Secretary-General's trip.  The… the… the press coverage is pretty… pretty… in terms of interpreting what he said and how he's going about things is pretty… almost unanimous in saying that he's trying to send signals that he's going to run for President.  So this is a direct quote I want to ask you about.  The deputy floor leader of the Minjoo party said the latest remarks amount to a de facto declaration of a presidential bid.  And my question in this light is, I know that Mr. Kim [Wonsoo] met with South Korean journalists before the trip occurred.  And, apparently, according to them, he said this is not a political trip.  And what I wanted to know is, first, in what capacity did he met with him?  Did he meet with him as Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament?  Did he meet with him… in a sense, some people see it as sort of political work.  And so I'm wondering, in the same way that Helen Clark has said that she takes leave to do work to run for SG, was he on the clock and what… in what possible capacity was he speaking? 

Deputy Spokesman:  No, he's speaking as a UN official who is talking about a visit… an official visit by the Secretary-General.  The Secretary-General is here in his capacity as Secretary-General.  He is doing things, such as the Jeju Forum and the DPI (Department of Public Information) NGO conference, in his capacity as Secretary-General.  This is not a trip in a private capacity, and he's made very clear, including to reporters in the Republic of Korea, that he will not be acting in a private capacity until he is done with his duties as Secretary-General.

Question:  He said… he says that he's been approached by other world leaders about running, that they've offered their support.  I mean, I'm sure you've read… this is in Korea Joongang Daily.  They quote a number of reporters at this meeting and he says things well beyond what you're saying from here.  And so… I mean, he can do whatever he wants, whatever the resolution says.  But my question… again, I want to go back… Is there any consideration… Mr. Kim's work, was this done in his capacity as Under-Secretary-General of disarmament or as sort of… he used to be Deputy Chief of Staff.  Is he still performing that role?

Deputy Spokesman:  No, he's not.  The Deputy's Chief of Staff is Patrick Carey.  When there are delegations who go on trips, sometimes they speak to reporters about the trip.  That's the case with that.  The spokespeople do that, as well.  In this case, he was talking about the trip, and he was trying to make it very clear that this is not a political trip.  And that is something that we echo from here.  Good afternoon, everyone. Oh, okay, one more.

Question:  Can I ask one more question, just a factual… this is unrelated.  It's unrelated but just… the other day, I was coming in through the metal detectors.  And there was a long student group coming through.  It's not what you think I'm going.  I'm going somewhere else.  There was a student that had on a Bernie Sanders button and the guard said, "Take it off.  There's no political statements allowed in the UN."  I wanted to know, is that really the case?

Deputy Spokesman:  Security are told that there're not supposed to be political slogans or political banners brought into the United Nations.  I don't, frankly, know how they enforce it on a case-by-case basis, but the standing rule is that you're not supposed to bring in any sort of political slogans or banners in.

Question:  Right.  I guess… do you… maybe you don't have it offhand.  Tell me what the rule is so I can look into whether it applies to a button.

Deputy Spokesman:  I do think that depends on the individual judgment of the security guard, whether a button counts or not.  I am, of course, wearing a button right now for Peacekeepers Day, although, presumably, that's a nonpartisan button, and hopefully, that passes the standard.  We shall see when I exit.

   Ban is responsible for his Under Secretaries General, from Herve Ladsous to Cristina Gallach. In Jeju Ban said: 

"Sri Lanka is overcoming political conflict. [Torture continues]]
 
"Myanmar is undergoing a peaceful democratic transition [Ban's Renata Lok-Dessalien hides from human rights]
One saying I frequently practice writing is 上善若水 which means, “The highest virtue is to act like water.”  Water Now

Water like the drip of corrption at the UN under Ban Ki-mon, and  like his attempt to drown the critial Press. We'll have more on this.

A senior Ban administration official more loyal (as they should be) to the UN than Ban tells Inner City Press it seems clear Ban is considering a run in South Korea and that what is is doing and not doing at and through the UN these days is "all about that." 

Ban wants to be sure not to be connected to the major and expanding UN bribery scandal that as occurred on his watch. Indictments, guilty pleas, inconvenient pictures of Ban with Francis Lorenzo, John Ashe and even Ng Lap Seng.  It now appears that for Ban to run would violate the General Assembly's Resolution of January 24, 1946, on the Terms of Appointment of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, 4(b).

 On May 25, Inner City Press asked Ban's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, video here, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: this has come up during the Secretary-General's trip in South Korea.  People are citing a GA (General Assembly) resolution that was passed in January 1946, which says, quote, “because the Secretary-General is a confidante of many governments, it is desirable that no member should offer him at any rate immediately upon retirement any governmental position”.  And so they're saying that this is… essentially, it's a GA resolution and that comments now made in Jeju, but the idea of Ban Ki-moon running for President of Korea in 2017 would be contrary to a GA resolution.  I'm sure he's aware of this, the mayor of Seoul, a former human rights lawyer, has raised it.  Others have raised it.  What is his response to how this GA resolution applies to his situation?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, the Secretary-General's response to this entire topic is one that he made clear even today, where he said that right now he's not considering the idea of what he does next after he ceases to be Secretary-General.  Right now he is going to focus on his work as Secretary-General.  It's at the start of next year that he'll actually have the time and the ability to think about other things.

Inner City Press:  I'm sure you've seen all the headlines.  All the headlines say that his statement that… that beginning 1 January, he will be back as a South Korean… is taken… I mean, and I understand you can say he's taken, but it doesn't seem unfair to say this is a GA resolution.  Does he acknowledge that this is the resolution?   And, two, it seems to say immediately… especially immediately upon retirement, this should not be done.  So is he saying… what's his response?

Deputy Spokesman:  I don't really think that there's any point in trying to read into his words more than what he's said.  Right now the idea is he's not considering any sort of post-UN activity.  You know, he won't take up that issue until the following year.  .

"Because a Secretary-General is a confidant of many governments, it is desirable that no Member should offer him, at any rate immediately on retirement, any governmental position in which his confidential information might be a source of embarrassment to other Members, and on his part a Secretary-General should refrain from accepting any such position."

Inner City Press on May 24 asked about a / the new sponsor of the DPI NGO conference without Ban's Deputy Spokesman proffering an answer. Also on May 24, Inner City Press asked the Deputy Spokesperson, Farhan Haq, about the trip and transparency, video here, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: There's a report today in the Korea Herald, again, speculating… you know, and that's speculation, whether he may run for President.  But I wanted to ask you this.  They said that… that… that, upon his arrival on Wednesday, Mr. Ban will meet with members of an association of senior journalists and was likely to field questions on his political ambitions.  I wanted to know, does your office intend to put out a transcript of that type of meeting?  And I'm asking because the same article says that, quote, “Ban had told Korean correspondents in New York that he would appreciate if they, quote, ‘help him bring to a successful conclusion his service as UN Secretary-General’”.  And I never saw that quote.  Was that… did he actually say that, or was that Mr. Kim?  Was there some… how does it work…?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, first of all, sometimes the Secretary-General conducts interviews.  As you know, sometimes, they might even be with small group interviews.  Those aren't the same as press conferences.  We will provide transcripts of all press conferences and press encounters, but interviews, of course, are exclusives for the journalists involved, and so we don't have a transcript put out for those.

Inner City Press:  So this thing coming up Wednesday upon his arrival in Jeju, is that a press conference, or what is it?

Deputy Spokesman:  I believe that's a group interview, but like I said, if there's press encounters, we'll put those transcripts out. 

A number of people in the UN directly connect Ban's ouster and eviction of Inner City Press, which has asked about nepotism (see, the son in law running UNFPA Kenya, and the nephew who worked for the company managing UNDP's building, and promising more) to a desire to prevent or discourage coverage of and inquiry into Ban's role in the Ng Lap Seng scandal.

Ban and his team try to deflect this by saying, as Kim Won-soo has, that it is all Cristina Gallach, you have to talk to Cristina - how? On May 23, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who's said to be preparing to accompany and spin Ban's six (or four) day trip to South Korea

video here, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: I know that Mr. Kim [Won-soo] did a briefing for South Korean media, I guess, last week trying to say that the upcoming trip has... you know, is in no way indicative of a desire to run for President by the Secretary-General, but there have been other stories including one... I don't know if it's today or yesterday... in the Korea Times saying that several of the Secretary-General's former associates still in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intend to create a foundation in his name saying that Mr. Yoon Yeocheol is now the protocol officer of the President and very much saying it's a six-day trip that it's hard to conclude that it isn't in some way related to the upcoming campaign.  Is... what's your... first of all, is Mr. Hyun now the protocol officer of President Park [Geun-Hye]?

Spokesman: This may come as a shock to you, but I speak for the Secretary-General and for the United Nations.  I have no... I have a tough enough time keeping tabs on what people do in this organization that I don't know what people do for the Foreign Ministry.

Inner City Press:  Okay [Yoon].

Spokesman: I think your question assumes a lot of things.  The Secretary-General has made it clear that his focus remains and will remain on his job as Secretary-General.

Inner City Press:  It seems fair to ask, is there... is he aware or are you on his behalf aware of attempts to set up a foundation in his name?

Spokesman:  I'm not aware.

Inner City Press:  Then why is it six days?

Spokesman:  Why is it six days?

Inner City Press:  Yeah.

Spokesman:  He's not going there... he's going there for one day in Jeju Island, and then he's going to the G7.  He has one personal day as he's allowed to take to see his family, because he does have family there.  And then the next days are spent speaking at the DPI/NGO conference.

Question:  [Inaudible: Rotary]

Spokesman:  And the Rotary International as well.

Others have noted that while Ban quickly moved to apologize when a (Korean) reporter was jostled at the South Korean mission, he has had nothing to say about Gallach's oust and eviction orders, the physical ouster of Inner City Press from the UN, audio here, and dumping of five boxes of its files on First Avenue. Others note that Ban has had the South Korean mission write speeches he has delivered as "UN" Secretary General. More on this to follow.

For ten years as Inner City Press covered the UN in ever greater detail, showing Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Herve Ladsous' inept overseeing and cover up of sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers, disparate treatment in Mali, dalliance with genocide in Sri Lanka and prospectively Burundi, impunity for cholera deaths in Haiti and until now for UN lead poisoning in Kosovo and cravenly pro-Saudi position on Yemen amid the airstrikes, it was never thrown out of the UN.

Now it has been, and even as groups like the Government Accountability Project tell Ban to reverse the eviction and give Inner City Press back its long time office and Resident Correspondent pass, Ban's UN tellingly move to award Inner City Press' office to Egypt state media Al-Akhbar / Akhbar Elyoum.  Tweeted photograph here.

On May 19, a sign for "Al Akhbar Yom" went up on Inner City Press' office - Inner City Press has STILL never seen the correspondent being given the stolen office. The UN says Resident Correspondents must be at the UN three days a week, but Inner City Press has never seen this person, former UN Correspondents Association president Sanaa Youssef, much less asking a question in the UN noon briefing.

Scribes speaking off the record according to the New York Times of May 14 "accused [ICP] of printing gossip, rumors." That UNCA's president rented an apartment to Palitha Kohona then granted his request to screenin the UN his government's war crimes denial film is no rumor or gossip.

But Akhbar Elyom, to which Gallach's and Ban's MALU and UNCA have given Inner City Press' office, not only gets journalists in Egypt attested - it targets, with a "Muslim Brotherhood" smear, a journalist who works right in the UN. Arabic article here.

This is the journalism that Ban Ki-moon and his Cristina Gallach want and reward. By taking away Inner City Press' office, it is now required to have a minder and is told to not ask diplomats questions. This is censorship.

Sign of TImes: #BanKiMoon & Gallach evict ICP, put in Egypt state media which gets others arrested pic.twitter.com/ynmU60gQW6

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) May 19, 2016

Akhbar Elyom has been used to finger for imprisonment non-state journalists in Egypt. For example, in July 2015 Aboubakr Khallaf, the founder and head of the independent Electronic Media Syndicate (EMS), “was arrested after a news article was published by the government-owned daily Akhbar Elyoum.” (Article in Arabic here.)

According to CPJ, Khallaf's EMS “trains and supports journalists who work online in Egypt. The syndicate operates independently from the state-recognized Egyptian Journalists Syndicate...
The local press freedom group Journalists Against Torture and the local Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) said Khallaf was also accused of 'taking pictures and displaying artistic works without a license,' among other allegations. A 1998 executive order states that individuals conducting audio and audiovisual work must have a license from the Ministry of Culture. According to AFTE, the accusation is in connection with Khallaf photographing the funeral of Hisham Barakat, Egypt's prosecutor general who was assassinated late last month."

There are many echoes of this in Ban's UN: as simply one example Ban's Under Secretary General for Public Information Cristina Gallach telling Inner City Press it takes photographs of things that "are not newsworthy." There are more, and more examples of Akbar Elyom.

Only when it questioned Ban's and its PR official Cristina Gallach's roles in the John Ashe, Ng Lap Seng and Francis Lorenzo UN bribery scandal did Gallach order Inner City Press ousted then evicted, and now try to give its office to an Egyptian media which rarely or never asked questions. Ban Ki-moon claimed “That is not my decision,” but that is not true.

  The New York Times on May 14 covered the story. But they did not in their long process report, because it happened at the end, that Ban Ki-moon and Gallach are moving to give Inner City Press' long time office to Egyptian state media, Al Akhbar / Akhbar El-Yom / Akher Saa, to a correspondent Sanaa Youssef who most even on the UN press floor have never seen.

Her "in" seems to be that she was a previous president of the UN Correspondents Association, now become the UN's Censorship Alliance. As one respected usual UN interlocutor put it, "it would be a hugely negative symbolic step for Egyptian state media to replace Inner City Press in the UN."

 A longtime UN correspondent who spotted her moving in on Inner City Press' office noted she had not been seen before; the name was confirmed by UN Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit, which refused to provide the waiting list or describe the rationale.

But this is Ban's and Gallach's UN (click here for a Spanish take on Gallach's tenure.) We are beginning to report this now because it has proven nearly impossible to reach Al Akhbar / Akhbar Al Yom - the telephone numbers listed online are disconnected, or private homes; the correspondent at UNCA address has been unresponsive. The absurdity of this has been directly raised to Ban Ki-moon, his Deputy and Chief of Staff with enough time to stop it. We'll see.

  For now from the NYT we note this quote: “It’s not exactly the same access,’’ Mr. Dujarric said, “but if he has an issue, there is a staff of media liaisons to help him resolve the problem and get where he needs to go.”

  This is false. As Inner City Press has raised to Ban Ki-moon, "even when begrudgingly accompanied by a staff member of your Spokesperson's office, UN Security refused to allow me through the turnstile onto the second floor of Conference Building. I have been told not to ask questions of diplomats, just after you came out of ECOSOC and even with a MALU minder / escort with me, a UN Security official stood directly in front of me, apparently so I couldn't even try to ask you a question. This is censorship."  We await response.

Audio hereBan, when asked, said “that is not my decision.” But he heard about the ouster and eviction in advance and ok-ed it.

On April 16, the acting chief of Gallach's “Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit Tal Mekel oversaw the eviction of Inner City Press' office, leaving five boxes of its files out on First Avenue. Video here.

Some in Ban's team indicated to Inner City Press its office would be left empty until its four month “purgatory” or punishment-for-reporting period was over.

That was a lie: on May 13, after Inner City Press asked more questions about Ban's engagements with John Ashe and Francis Lorenzo - president of South South News which paid UNCA and still has a UN office - Inner City Press was informed that its long time office is being given out.

   When Inner City Press asked to see the supposed waiting list, this was refused by Mekel. It is apparently entirely up to Gallach - or UNCA - who is given UN office space, without which one cannot access the UN Conference Building's second floor, see below.

On May 13 as the UN Security Council began a meeting about Lebanon, the glass doors to enter the Council were locked. Apparenlty the UN can't afford one guard for a Security Council meeting, but won't provide information requested by the Press about Ban Ki-moon's endless and largely fruitless travel.

   Inner City Press, which covers the UN corruption scandal and was ousted then evicted by an official implicated in the scandal, Cristina Gallach -- see OIOS audit Paragraphs 37 to 40 and 20(b) -- with Ban Ki-moon's full knowledge, was unable to get to the Security Council stakeout. Its pass, cut by Gallach, won't open the turnstile at the other end of the stakeout. This week a guard there even refused to allow Inner City Press through to a stakeout with a staffer of the Spokesperson's office.

   Gallach, at least according to some paid to tweet for the UN, is in Washington. So Inner City Press undertook to document the restrictions and censorship. Another UN system spokesperson tried to undermine it, as did UN Security. They claimed everything is fine, even as Security Council Ambassadors asked them how can it be that the door is locked (and Press excluded). Some Security write-up began, sure to omit all of this. Watch this site.

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