The 'slippery eel' ends up at a rough turn

Seoul

NICKNAMED the "slippery eel" in South Korea for his ability to dodge uncomfortable questions and controversy, former UN chief Ban Ki-moon was a seasoned diplomatic player for decades, but his short-lived presidential ambitions leave a rough end to his career.

Born in 1944 in the small rural village of Eumseong in Japanese-occupied Korea, Mr Ban grew up in the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War that devastated the nation and his middle-class family.

It was during the conflict that Mr Ban first saw the flag of the organisation he would one day lead - on the uniforms of American soldiers handing out aid parcels to his family - and he later described himself as a "child of the UN".

He was a bookish teenager who loved learning English - a passion that helped him win a month-long scholarship programme to visit the US and eventually meet then-President J…