Ban 'not running' for S Korea presidency
A news report says former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has declared that he won't run for South Korea's presidency.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency says Ban made the announcement during an unscheduled press conference on Wednesday.
Ban reportedly said he was disappointed by the actions of the country's political establishment but didn't elaborate.
Ban had generated sizable interest in his home country after a decade in charge of the United Nations and was seen as testing the political waters before announcing his candidacy.
But his approval rating had been falling in opinion surveys on who should succeed impeached President Park Geun-hye.
Ban said later after meeting leaders of conservative parties, that it was "meaningless" to join them.
"I have decided to give up the pure intention of trying to lead political change and accomplish national reconciliation," he said.
Ban returned to South Korea on January 12 after serving 10 years as UN chief but had been unable to capitalise on his much-anticipated homecoming, cutting a sometimes-irritable figure in public and mired in a series of perceived PR gaffes and a scandal involving family members.
