South Korean nominated as next U.N. secretary-general

UNITED NATIONS -- South Korea's foreign minister was officially nominated Monday as the next U.N. secretary-general, and he pledged to work to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis hours after the communist regime announced it had tested a nuclear weapon.\n"This should be a moment of joy. But instead, I stand here with a very heavy heart," Ban Ki-Moon told reporters in Seoul, South Korea. "Despite the concerted warning from the international community, North Korea has gone ahead with a nuclear test."\nBan was nominated by the U.N. Security Council to succeed Kofi Annan, whose term expires at the end of the year. He faces likely confirmation by the U.N. General Assembly.\nUnder the U.N. Charter, the 15-member Security Council makes a recommendation for the next secretary-general to the 192-member General Assembly, which must give final approval.\nIf appointed to the top job at the global body, Ban said he would "contribute as much as I can to the resolution of all kinds of problems including the North Korean nuclear issue that may threaten international peace and security."\nBan called North Korea's reported nuclear test an "act of provocation" and "a grave and direct threat to the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia."\nSouth Korea will "be firm and resolute in adhering to the principle of no tolerance of a nuclear North Korea," he added.\nNorth Korea has not mentioned Ban's bid to become U.N. secretary-general. But it previously has accused him of blindly following the U.S. line by urging the North to resume negotiations and give up the atomic weapons program.\nThe reported test drew immediate condemnation from members of the U.N. Security Council, with the U.S. saying it would seek U.N. sanctions to curb North Korea's import and export of material for weapons of mass destruction, as well as its illicit financial activities.\nSecurity Council members also demanded at an emergency meeting that the communist nation return to six-party talks on its weapons program, Japan's U.N. ambassador said.\nThe latest incident has added new urgency to international efforts to solve the North's nuclear weapons ambitions. The six-party talks have been stalled for almost a year and no progress has been made on implementing a September 2005 agreement in which North Korea pledged to give up its nuclear programs in exchange for aid and security guarantees.\n"In close cooperation and consultation with the countries concerned and the international community, we will seek firm and strong measures so as to get North Korea to abandon all of its nuclear weapons and related programs," Ban said.\nBan also said he will show "leadership by example" in instituting U.N. reforms as head of the world body.\n"It is true that the U.N. has not lived up to the expectations of the international community in terms of efficiency, transparency and accountability," he said. "I will endeavor to make substantial contributions to making progress."\nBan will be the eighth secretary-general in the United Nations' 60-year history, overseeing an organization with some 92,000 peacekeepers around the world and a $2 billion annual operating budget. Fighting hunger, assisting refugees and slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS are all programs that fall under the secretary-general's purview.