Ban
Ki-moon Uses Diary To
Deny One Bribery
Charge, ICP Asks UN About
Diary, Denial, End
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
January 23 – Ban Ki-moon left
the UN on January 1 and
tellingly his first move was
to take legal action against
the press. Before he left, he
named his own son in law Siddarth
Chatterjee to the top UN
top in Kenya.
In South
Korea, Ban Ki-moon's campaign
is in trouble, as his long
decade of corruption and
censorship are exposed (see today's Sisa
Journal, and this
in English from Hankyoreh
last week).
The emptiness of
Ban Ki-moon's policies hasn't
helped, either. As Yongin
University professor Choi
Chang-ryul put
it, "Strategic ambiguity
only works in diplomacy, not
in domestic politics."
Actually,
Ban's vacuity didn't work in
diplomacy either, at least at
the UN. Look at the slaughter
in Yemen, the failure to
follow through in Burundi, the
active cover up of war crimes,
including those
of his own son in law, in
Sri Lanka.
Desperately, Ban Ki-moon proxy
Park Min-sik at a press
conference at the National
Assembly today
unveiled what he called Ban's
diary to purportedly rebut one
of the many bribery charges
surrounded Ban (he did not
address the UN-era charges.)
But this Ban
diary should be sought in connection
with his claim not to know of
the activities of his nephew,
brother Ban Ki Sang and brother
Ban Ki Ho.
On January
23, Inner City Press asked Ban
Ki-moon's holdover spokesman
at the UN Stephane Dujarric
about the extradition request
(below) and about and if he
had seen, before threatening
Sisa Journal, Ban's diary. Video here, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
First, do you have any comment
at all by the request of US
authorities for the
extradition of Ban Ki-moon's
brother and nephew?
Spokesman: No. No.
Inner City Press:
Okay. My second question
is this… and you'll see why…
at least I think it's UN
related. A former
Saenuri lawmaker, sort of a
proxy for Ban Ki-moon, Park
Min-sik, appeared in a press
conference today with a diary…
what he said was a diary of
Ban Ki-moon and using it to
say that some of the
allegations that you yourself
denied were not true because
the contemporaneous diary said
that he did not receive… he
did not meet with the
businessman. This has to
do with a bag of cash, Sisa
Journal. Since you wrote
to Sisa Journal and told them
they were false, I wanted to
know, does this diary keep…
one, have you seen the diary
since you denied it?
And, two, did this diary keep
and continue during his tenure
of Secretary-General, given
the other issues that exist
around the nephew, possible
sale of…?
Spokesman: I'm not sure
I understand your question.
Inner City Press: Were
you ever aware of a diary kept
by Ban Ki-moon that's never
been shown in public…?
Spokesman: I am aware… I
was aware of the
Secretary-General's schedule,
and I will not add to what
I've already said on this
issue.
The US
Attorney for the Southern
District of New York has asked
South Korea to arrest and
extradite Ban Ki-moon's
brother Ban Ki Sang. Other
questions raised by Inner City
Press are still unanswered, as
reported
on in Seoul, here.
Inner City
Press has asked the UN's - and
until recently Ban's - top
three spokespeople for
"comment on the US government
formal request to South Korea
to extradite Ban Ki Sang, and
again, was the UN ever
contacted by prosecutors about
Ban Ki-moon or his family
members?"
Meanwhile
in South Korea, tellingly in a
canned statement, Ban Ki-moon
has claimed that he had
"absolutely no knowledge" -
but as far back as May 15,
2015 Inner City Press asked
Ban's spokespeople, in a
public noon briefing, about
the violations of his nephew
Dennis Bahn. May
15, 2015 video here. See
also this,
and this
video, from May 2015.
Equally
without basis, Ban Ki-moon who
is not part of the South
Korean (or formally US)
government has claimed that
discussions on extradition
between these two will be
"strict and transparent."
Ban can't promise
that, and transparency is the
exact opposite of how he ran
the UN, including refusing to
answer when Qatar paid for his
travel then having Inner City
Press which asked evicted and
restricted still.
But now it seems
the cover up by censorship is
crumbling.
Just
as Ban left his brother Ban Ki
Sang and his nephew Dennis
Bahn, of whom Inner City Press
has asked Ban's UN
spokespeople since at latest
May 2015, were indicted for
bribery. Bahn was described
using his family connections -
Ban Ki-moon - to try to sell
real estate in Vietnam.
Inner City
Press' questions to Ban's
longtime spokesman Stephane
Dujarric were referred to a
Ban supporter in Seoul, Lee
Do-woon, at a number which was
never answered. On January 17,
after Inner City Press appeared
on TBS radio in South Korea
about Ban's corruption
and censorship, Dujarric
provided a number for a second
spokesman: Yoon Won-joong.
After
speaking with him, Inner City
Press on January 18 asked UN
deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, video here, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
I guess it was Stéphane
Dujarric that sent the phone
number of a second Ban Ki-moon
Spokesman. I did speak
to him, but in fact, the
coverage there is giving rise
to a question I have to ask
you as the UN. There’s a
story in today’s Korea Times,
the title of which is
“Prosecutors say Ban Ki-moon
was ‘indeed on bribery
list.’” And it describes
a list that was provided by Mr
Park of Taekwang Industry,
saying he had given money to
Ban Ki-moon during the time
frame that he was
Secretary-General. So
the question becomes… there
are… obviously, there are
questions to Ban Ki-moon
there. The question
becomes, when did South Korean
prosecutors -- because this
article says that what would
have held them up was… was
immunity, that, as
Secretary-General, they would
be unclear whether they could
even question him or go… or
look into this matter.
Was the UN contacted by the
prosecutors about this Park
list? And, if so, what
did they do?
Deputy Spokesman: No, I
don’t have any comment on
that.
Inner City Press: It’s a
UN question. I mean, do
you acknowledge… because I
talked to the guy for about
five minutes yesterday, but he
said those are UN questions.
Deputy Spokesman: I
don’t actually have any
comment on this.
Well, the
UN will have to. We'll have
more on this.
Late on
January 17, from New York,
Inner City Press reached Yoon
Won-joong and asked him when
Ban Ki-moon knew that his
nephew was using his name to
try to sell real estate, and
what he did.
Yoon
Won-joong said "I don't know
when, exactly, he knew about
it." It is an important
question.
Yoon
Won-joong told Inner City
Press, "he has no further
comment at this point. Maybe
later on, he may make several
announcements in relation to
that issue... I can ask him
how he tried to proceed this
issue... Then I'll be aware
how he stands."
We'll be
waiting. For now, given
push-back, here
is the complete audio, on
SoundCloud, here.
"He will
be joining a political party,
probably, after Chinese New
Year. The UN doesn't want to
mention about him anymore. He
came back to Korea as a
general citizen and he wants
to stay on that status for a
while."
Maybe
forever. Not ready for prime
time. Yoon Won-joong
ended the call asking to be
sent a text. He received these
two:
"since Inner City
Press in May 2015 asked the UN
spokespeople about Dennis Bahn
using Ban Ki-moon's name to
try to sell the building in
Vietnam (and working at UN
landlord Colliers), when did
Mr. Ban Ki-moon become aware
of each of those? And what did
he do?"
"there is also
the question of Ban Ki Ho:
when did Ban Ki-moon become
aware of Ban Ki Ho's business
in Myanmar, what does he know
about the UN delegation the
Myanmar government lists Ban
Ki Ho being a part of, or any
other UN system meeting with
Myanmar officials with Ban Ki
Ho attended?"
We are
awaiting answers.
Ban's
scripted re-entry to South
Korea has featured the kissing
of babies, the
mis-introduction of money into
the express train subway, and
claims he advocated for the
downtrodden - despite selling
out 10,000 dead Haitians, and
more Yemenis than that.
But
questions of corruption and
nepotism have continued to
mount.
On January
16-17 Inner City Press, which
Ban had evicted from the UN as
it reported on his corruption,
was interviewed on Seoul's TBS
Radio show "News Factory of
Kim Ou-Joon," their
transcript here (just
machine-translate), Periscope
here.
The topics
TBS Radio asked about included
Ban Ki-sang, Dennis Bahn, Ban
Ki Ho and Ban Ki-moon's eviction
and restriction
of Inner City Press, which
remains ongoing under Ban's
holdover head of DPI Cristina
Gallach. Some excerpts:
Q: It has been
Mr. Ban 's brother since a few
years ago. Mr. And Collier
International, whose son Bahn
Joo Hyun joined the company
and sold the Vietnamese
building. Does this company
have anything to do with the
United Nations?
Matthew: I have been
suspicious of Dennis Bahn for
a long time before this
indictment. Because Denis Bahn
was working for Collier
International, Colliers
International could be said to
be a lease for a UN building.
It is a company that receives
rent from the United Nations.
I used to ask the United
Nations if Dennis Bahn could
work at Colliers
International. Before Mr. Ban
Joo tried to sell a building
in Vietnam, I think there is a
problem in his own work that
Ban Ki-moon has worked for a
company that his relatives can
call a lease of the United
Nations. I was not convinced
at all. I argued that there
should be provisions for the
benefit of UN affiliates for
the relatives of senior UN
personnel. I already asked
Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman
for Ban Ki -moon in May 2015,
about Ban 's nephew.
Information about this case
has been released since 2015.
In fact, not only that, but
Mr. Banjo knows that he has
been fined for manipulating
documents in addition to the
charges. But the United
Nations has not responded to
this and other reporters in
charge of the United Nations
have not covered the case. To
say that Ban Ki-moon does not
know about this incident is
not making sense at all.
Except to
outgoing US Ambassador
Samantha Power...
On
January 13, when Inner City
Press asked outgoing US
Ambassador to the UN Samantha
Power about the indictment of
Ban Ki-moon's brother and
nephew, who used Ban's and
UN's name to try to sell a
building in Vietnam.
Tellingly,
Samantha Power said no
comment, "that does not
involve the UN." Video
here. That is false -
the indictment describes Ban
Ki-moon's nephew Dennis Bahn
using the UN General Assembly
to angle to meet the Amir of
Qatar, which Ban Ki-moon in
fact did, on September 24,
2013.
But it's a
two-way streets. One of Ban's
very first announcements in
South Korea is that he
supports the US' deployment of
THAAD missiles.
One hand washes
the other. But one hand is
leaving, and the other may
well lose. Watch this site.
Even on his
main claim, of being a
solution to the North Korea
problems, Ban Ki-moon has been
a failure. Click
here for 2011 coverage from
Inner City Press, which Ban
Ki-moon is desperation in 2016
would have his head of
"Communications" Cristina
Gallach evict from the UN, and
restrict still. How different
is Ban Ki-moon from is
portrayal of Kim Jong-un?
Interest
in South Korea is growing
about Ban Ki-moon's brother
Ban Ki-ho's mining in Myanmar,
including Ki-ho not only being
on a "UN delegation" as ICP
first reported, but having a
January 21, 2015 meeting with
Myanmar officials - and UN
officials. We'll have more on
this: including on an upcoming
South Korean radio program.
Ban's
moonlighting mentor Han
Seung-soo was allowed by Ban
to be a UN official while his
Doosan Infracore sold
desalinization equipment in
the UAE, where Han gave
speeches - and sold
equipment to a gold miner
(hmm) in Myanmar.
And after leaving
the UN, Ban openly enlisted a
person still in the UN job
he'd given him, Jeffrey
Sachs, to campaign for
South Korea's presidency with
him. This is now reported by
CNBC as well, here.
Inner City Press
on January 9 asked Ban's
holdover spokesman Stephane
Dujarric about Sachs' comments
and Dujarric said, as he so
often does without coming back
with anything, that he will
look into it. Video
here.
This while media
reports link
“full time” UN official Kim
Won-soo to Ban's wannabe
campaign.
Ban
Ki-moon has used and abused
the UN, not only the General
Assembly resolution he is
ignoring by running, but by
using public taxpayers' money
to further his own ambition.
In his final year
Ban evicted Inner City Press
from the UN, where still under
his successor it remains
restricted to minders to cover
events on the UN's second
floor.
Back in
2009, when Inner City Press
reported on Ban's nepotism in
connection with a promotion of
Ban's son in law, an
invitation to lunch came from
South Korea's Mission to the
UN.
Then deputy
ambassador Kim Bong-hyun used
the lunch to berate Inner City
Press on how to cover (and not
cover) Ban. (The article, and
his full reply, are here).
Now he's listed
on Ban's campaign team, along
with still UN official Kim
Won-soo and former South
Korean Ambassadors to the UN
Kim Sook and Oh Joon.
Oh Joon
has just given an interview
claiming that press criticism
of Ban Ki-moon is of his
"inclusive leadership." How
about his nepotism: son in law
promoted to top UN job in
Kenya, nephew with UN
landlord, brother Ki-ho mining
in Myanmar after being on a UN
delegation?
Tellingly,
the UN's Office of Internal
Oversight Services never
looked into or acted on these;
Ban through still at the UN Cristina
Gallach had Inner City
Press evicted
and still
restricted, still even
on January
9, 2017 harassed for daring
to cover the UN...
Sachs,
Ban and his fan club, UN Censorship Alliance, UN
Photo
In
early January, Inner City
Press asked Kim Won-soo
directly, when will you be
leaving the UN? He refused to
answer, backing away smiling.
But it is no joke, to take
public funds while reportedly
on the campaign team of a
political candidate. We'll
have more on this.
***
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