[FOUNTAIN]UN leader has tough job

“I cannot live within the boundary and the frame the world has made. I will break out of the cage and fly out of the map. I have to find food by myself and am constantly exposed to danger. But it is the price I have to pay for liberty, the price for the lesson. I am willing to pay the price for the freedom.” So proclaims Han Bi-ya in her book, “March Out of the Map.”
She compares life with hiking mountains. There are numerous mountains, and every mountain has a summit. Korea is a mere base camp. The author has conquered the mountain of “international PR” and the mountain of “around-the-world travel.” Now she is challenging the mountain of “emergency relief.” This is the cause that touches her heart.
She does, however, meet with discouragement. Just as one mess is cleaned up, turmoil breaks out and everything reverses. It is as if one is doing his best to clean up one side of the street, while conflict and disaster break out the other side. What can one person do?
One answer is to join international public service and work for the United Nations.
While one cannot completely solve world problems, there is no organization like the United Nations to tackle the challenges of mankind, such as working for world peace and battling poverty.
Compensation for working at the United Nations is handsome. The salary of a specialist starts at well above $40,000.
In 1921, the League of Nations, the predecessor to the United Nations, set up its payroll standard based on a country offering the highest wages to civil servants.
At first, U.N. salaries were based on the pay of the civil servants in Great Britain.
Beginning in 1946, United Nations employees were paid based on the payroll standards of the federal employees of the United States.
A recent survey revealed that German civil servants are paid higher salaries, and the U.N. standard will be adjusted accordingly.
The highest-ranking man in the United Nations is the Secretary General. His salary is $227,253.
The straw poll for the U.N. Secretary General will begin today. The poll is an important indicator of the tendencies of the 15 members of the Security Council.
One of the four candidates is Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-moon.
It may be easier to find a solution to world peace than a solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis.
I wish him the best of luck.

by You Sang-chul

The writer is the Asia news editor at the JoongAng Ilbo.