Relatives' US bribery case rains on ex-UN chief's homecoming

An indictment accuses Ban Ki-moon’s relatives of a scheme to bribe a Middle Eastern official for an attempted $800 million sale of a building complex in Vietnam

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Ban Ki-moon consistently polls as a top candidate as South Korea braces for the possibility of an early election. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:30pm, 11 Jan 2017Updated: 4:32pm, 11 Jan 2017

A US bribery case against two relatives has cast a pall over former United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon’s planned return this week to South Korea, where he is expected to launch a bid to run for president.

Ban, 72, has not declared his candidacy but has had a team of people laying groundwork in Seoul ahead of his planned arrival in South Korea on Thursday afternoon.

The former foreign minister consistently polls as a top candidate as South Korea braces for the possibility of an early election following parliament’s December impeachment of President Park Geun-hye in an influence-peddling scandal.

If South Korea’s Constitutional Court upholds the impeachment, Park would become South Korea’s first democratically elected leader to leave office in disgrace.

Lee Do-woon, Ban’s spokesman, was quick to distance Ban from the indictment, which was filed against his younger brother and his nephew in a Manhattan federal court. It accuses Ban’s relatives of a scheme to bribe a Middle Eastern official for an attempted $800 million sale of a building complex in Vietnam.

Joo Hyun-bhan, nephew of former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, leaves federal court in New York. Photo: AP

“Ban was greatly surprised by the news, which he learned from the media. He knows nothing about it,” said Lee, who also said Ban would address various concerns directly upon his arrival in South Korea.