Jan 27, 2007, 0:08 GMT
New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon became the first UN leader to disclose personal financial assets to the public in an effort to build what his office said Friday were the highest integrity and ethical standards.
epa00913526 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (R) meets with Spanish FM Miguel Angel Moratinos (L) at the Conference for Support on Lebanon, in Paris, France, Thursday 25 January 2007. 33 countries have joined France in this event. EPA/CHRISTOPHE KARABA
The financial statement, covering 2006, showed that he and his wife own an apartment in South Korea, worth between 500,000 dollars and 1 million dollars, and two lots of land, worth under 250,000 dollars. Both have two checking and savings accounts with less than 100,000 dollars and a checking account with less than 50,000 dollars.
Ban also received a salary as South Korea's foreign minister during 2006, but the amount was not disclosed.
Ban said upon assuming the post of secretary general in January that he wanted to set an early example as a leader with 'the highest standards of integrity and ethical behaviour' at the UN.
The financial statement was prepared by the New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which also handles disclosure statements of UN staff.
PwC said Ban was not obliged to provide additional information regarding his personal assets in complying with guidelines of the UN Financial Disclosure Programme, which was set up last year to fight corruption in the UN.
Former Secretary General Kofi Annan followed the disclosure procedures, which are administered by the UN Ethics Office, and submitted the form, but did not make it public.
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