Ban Ki-Moon, South Korea’s Foreign Minister and current frontrunner for the UN’s top job, is a career diplomat viewed by many as an able manager who is skilled in building consensus.

He has been in office for 56 months and is one of South Korea’s longest-serving foreign ministers, surviving the sometimes turbulent diplomacy on the divided Korean peninsula.

Officials and acquaintances see him as a non-partisan professional who works diligently. The 62-year-old has always been proud of his 36-year career in the Foreign Service, which has included 10 years on UN-related missions.

He became a diplomat in 1970 after graduating from the prestigious Seoul National University and undertaking postgraduate studies at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Mr Ban had a stint as first secretary at South Korea’s UN mission from 1978 to 1980 and was director of the foreign ministry’s UN division until 1983 and was his country's chief envoy to the UN for two years from 2001.

He became Foreign Minister in January 2004 after a spell as chief presidential foreign policy advisor during a period of tension over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. He has been deeply involved in six-nation talks, which are currently stalled, aimed at persuading the North to give up its nuclear weapons.

He has also had to calm periodic turbulence in South Korea’s alliance with the US and handle deteriorating ties with Japan.

"I think he has the capacity to do the Secretary General’s job. He’s a very able man," said a diplomat in Seoul. "Ban is generally regarded as a very good troubleshooter, very good at compromises and building consensus.

"People who work with him say he’s a good manager. He also has a good knowledge of the United Nations and people in New York have a very positive impression of him."

The diplomat said that Mr Ban also has a personal interest in development aid, which makes him popular in Africa, and would be expected to push aid issues in the top UN post.

Having declared in February his candidacy to replace Kofi Annan, Mr Ban topped the first two straw polls among the 15 Security Council members.

But last night, his prospects suffered a setback after he slipped back by one vote in a fresh secret ballot, receiving backing from only 13 of the 15 council members. Nonetheless, he remains the clear frontrunner.

Officials at the Foreign Ministry say that the mild-mannered Mr Ban is resolute and energetic in getting things done. "Minister Ban is a kind of iron-hand-in-the-velvet-glove person at work," said Ko Ki-Seok, a ministry spokesman.

"He was born healthy. He never fails in his killing work schedule that divides each day into a schedule of five minutes at a time."

Some critics have nicknamed him Ban "jusa" (a meticulous low-ranking official) but even they never question his determination or stamina. Mr Ban says he wants to plough that determination into reforms to make the world body leaner and more efficient.

"The UN should first reform itself. (It) suffers from its inability to set priorities and make choices," he said in a speech to a New York forum on Wednesday. "The UN needs to promise less and deliver more."

Mr Ban is married to his high-school sweetheart, Yoo Soon-Taek. They have one son and two daughters, the eldest of whom is working for Unicef in Africa.

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