Ban Ki Moon won the backing of 14 of the 15 members of the Security Council including all five permanent members — the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia.

The Security Council will now vote formally next Monday to confirm Mr Ban as Secretary-General to replace Kofi Annan, who retires at the end of the year. “Nothing can stop him now,” said one UN diplomat. “He will almost certainly win full backing.”

Once appointed by the Security Council, Mr Ban is expected to be voted into office by the UN General Assembly representing all 192 member states.

There is an understanding at the UN that the next candidate should be Asian, since the last men to hold the post were from Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Europe. The last Asian Secretary-General was U Thant of Burma, who served from 1961 to 1971.

But there has been criticism that the softly spoken Korean civil servant lacks the charisma for a hugely demanding job that will include tackling global terror, poverty, development and humanitarian crises. In addition, the next Secretary-General will be expected to reform the UN’s notorious bureaucracy.

Mr Ban insisted yesterday that he was up to the challenges. “I may look soft from the outside but I have inner strength when it is really necessary. I have always been decisive,” he said. “In Asian countries humility is regarded as a virtue. Soft-speaking should in no way be regarded as a lack of leadership or commitment.”

Mr Ban announced his candidacy for the UN job in February. During campaigning he came under criticism from rivals for continuing to serve as Korea’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, particularly when Seoul boosted ties and extended aid to countries sitting on the UN Security Council.

After entering the Korean diplomatic service, he served at the UN in New York and was twice posted to the Embassy in Washington. He became well known in Asia during the 1990s when he headed nuclear talks with North Korea.

His handling of the negotiations appears to have won him key support from America and China.

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