you can follow the senate live when it returns today at 10:30 a.m. eastern on c-span2. >> reporter: ban ki-moon has 30 years of international diplomacy, became the eighth secretary-general of the united nations in january of 2007. by that time he and his colleagues had help his

impoverished and war-torn country grow into one of the world's wealthiest, south korea became a model for other developing countries. the bond helped focus the united nations on bringing similar economic growth to other areas of the globe. a series of international crises over the next decade took attention from his ambitious economic development plan. that chaotic period included the arab spring, the ebola epidemic, flooding and conflict in central africa, genocide in the sudan, russia's incursion into georgia and the spread of nuclear weapons in iran and north korea. all against the backdrop of the growing impact of climate change. as he brought his own skills and the power of the un to bear in solving the world's crazies he also weathered a few of his own, the un became the focus of sharp criticism after deadly

cholera out break to un peacekeepers sent to restore order after a major earthquake. in his new memoir, "resolved: united nations in a divided world," ban ki-moon grapples with reforming the united nations, the impact of the haiti disaster on the un's image and what he calls the difficult cousin of north korea. he also offers a candid assessment of what lies ahead. it is a pleasure to welcome ban ki-moon to the national press club, the virtual podium is yours. >> thank you for the kind introduction, ms. julian rich, the established members of the national press club. it is a great honor for me to have this opportunity. before i engage with you, let me say a few words. i appreciate your interest in

my memoir "resolved: united nations in a divided world". i hope this will inspire for actions, improve cooperation and encourage people around the world to become global citizens. during my 5 decades long public service in the republic of korea and 10 years at the united nations as secretary-general this is my first ever memoir. i have never written a book in the past because of time but i thought after retirement it is my duty to share with the

world's people my experience. it is ongoing. i just wanted to leave this message as secretary-general of the united nations. as you know, my whole life has been colonialism was the summer for democracy in korea and around the world. i myself have gone through turbulent periods as a korean citizen of the united nations. i was raised in 1950, came of age in poverty and watched my

country go through democracy with the help of the united nations. without the united nations, korea would not be what it is today. these experiences grounded me in the importance of peace, opportunity and international cooperation. my life and tenure as secretary-general of the united nations, continues to this day, i run or chair as an organization, international your private d voted to development, human rights, climate change, empowerment of humane goals, so many things

and i also wonder. only to look at alliances fracturing, refugees fleeing, to understand our precious ambitions, precarious conditions. why are we not doing more and better? to me the fault most often lies with the leaders of the world, too many autocrats and dictators put their interests before the countries and before the people. these rulers are selfish and shortsighted when they need to think as global citizens and times of extreme pressure such as covid 19 and the climate crisis. i was disappointed to see even

the rich and generous and prosperous nations look in word first, the g7 meeting, the leaders, at least 1 billion doses of vaccine and also gain coming through to mobilize $100 billion a year for therapy addressing climate change. including the united nations, more in 1990s. as of today, it is deadlocked, has cost its credibility. groups are diminished with

internal divisions. we need more alliances among civil societies, ngos, academics and organizations. these collaborations, powerful negotiations of climate change arrangements and the goals of sustainable development. combined in unique perspectives, with resources. it is essential that the hatred of the others to express economic expansion and military

power need our support. with the finalists. 850 people have been killed and 4500 people are now under detention in me and bar. i lived in the middle east. i fully appreciate that the people are less full state solutions not respected by all the slides, the palestinian people who will suffer by the overpowering military forces of israel, therefore, two states

should should sit down and talk about peace and development. especially women and girls must be protected from the most extreme in the taliban and. time for the united nations and its member states to create a new piece framework for afghanistan as nato forces by september. ladies and gentlemen come we have so much work ahead. that is one of the reasons i have decided to write a memoir for leaders, lawmakers and anyone who aspires to make the world more peaceful and equitable so that everybody regardless of where you are, what you are, to live in peace and security and harmony.

thank you very much. i'm happy for your comments and questions. >> thank you for that intro. you had a chance to publicly reveal your inner thoughts and feelings about the biggest events of your tenure. can you talk a little bit about what was like to finally unleash your private thoughts in this book and was it difficult to write? >> i could not write all that has happened in my thousand, 2000 pages. how to make sure, i was asked by the publisher, 350 pages, it has to be connected. i thought should be the basis of some lessons and i really wanted to let the people know,

what needs to be done more, why it is not been functioning as it has been decided in 1945 by world leaders, very important lesson, my predecessors have almost their own memoirs but time and circumstances have always been different. they have their own agonies and challenges. everything should be more than enough in terms of transportation and communication, technology and science but why then can we not do better than our

predecessors. when it comes to that we've suffered a lot most recently because of what is made but that is caused not by the people but the leaders, sometimes leaders are most powerful in the strongest of countries like the united states. look what has happened the last four years when climate change was not respected in jcp away was withdrawn by donald trump. this kind of leadership has shown not concerned to the people. it is only the people on the ground who will suffer. that is what i find heartbreaking.

>> is that next memoir, to get the rest of your thoughts out there? >> i would not dare to write a second one otherwise -- it took a long time. because i have limited time. why is a retiree on, looking very -- i'm not just a private citizen. as i told you in my remarks, still with international responsibilities at home and abroad. that made it difficult to find time.

and i was able to have more time in writing my memoir. otherwise it would have taken much longer time. i found it is challenging to write a book. >> speaking of staying busy now that you retired from the un you were appointed head of the olympic ethics commission in 2017. the next two olympics have controversy around covid 19 confirming japan and call to boycott the games in china over beijing's human rights record. give us your thoughts on the future of the lipid games in light of those controversies. >> each country may have a certain problem. i think sports and politics

should be separated and sports should not be misused or used in the course of certain issues. there were some such cases when some countries decided not to participate like moscow in the 1980s. and there was some sentiment, to pencil the olympic games. i am surprised the japanese government and ioc decided to carry on the olympic games during my time, the ioc walked a close lead and established a

sort of peace through sports. this, you cannot find anything that can instantly popularize power and passion and energy than sports. how we can, how we can energize power generated by the sport. that is why i'm working closely with the ioc leadership, the current president and a former president and have been participating in the olympic games and every april 6th designated by the general assembly as international

sports so on that day we have organized meaningful events so that the spirit and harmony and cooperation and mutual respect and passion and energy used to bring peace and harmony among people so i'm happy to report this kind of initiative. >> looking at your legacy as secretary general is there a challenge you wish you could change or make a different decision on? >> there are many. looking back, the united nations could be reformed so that we can deliver much better. when people say, people spoke

about the united nations, to the united nations, a particular moment, the 5 most powerful people, on many occasions the united nations could not have been able to deliver timely and effective and powerful messages or action because of the divisions among security council members, look at the case of syria. a lot of people, a list of 6.6 million syrian people had become refugees in lebanon,

progress and egypt and more than 5 million people living on the poverty line in egypt. most persistent and broken. this is a travesty but because of that the united nations is not been able to deliver humanitarian issues. i read yesterday the united states is trying to deliver food boxes but there should be no such restrictions when it comes to genuine humanitarian support and syria, so many countries around the world whose people are suffering without being able to say

anything, and the united nations, as secretary general i tried my best, just the general functioning of the united nations system, secretariat and specialized agencies and other agencies, beating the expectation of the world's people but in many cases we have not been able to deliver as much as possible. that is what i'm trying to reform, how the secretariat, how -- it is quite difficult.

i hope we continue in terms of transparency, accountability, ethics. i think i made great improvements. >> what other reforms would you like to see from the un? what other types of reforms would you like to see from the un? >> first of all, i tried to make the united nations transparent and accountable. i asked the staff above the rank of assistant secretary general to report their financials to the ethics committee so that the financial situation could be reviewed and also i wanted to to make the united nations more movable and

transferable between the field offices and headquarters. tens of thousands of un staff at the center and headquarters like new york, geneva, paris and all those good places but once you are stuck in somewhere you can never come out. i thought it was unfair, everybody should have an opportunity of their capacity to walk as sampled in the united nations. i really tried much but not much, then i wanted to make our communications systems in the 21st century of science and technology, using all different types of communication at that

time, now communicable throughout the un system but that is one aspect. in terms of justifications we established for the first time during my time, a piece court and a peace tribunal. whenever that has some issues to bring this method this tribunal and this tribunal is not satisfactory, a peace tribunal, this is a traditional system of the united nations. >> you guided the un through a

variety of health crises during your tenure as secretary general including the evil a crisis. what are your thoughts on the un's actions amid the coronavirus pandemic? would you have done anything differently if you were still in charge? >> the current covid 19 should have taken a different approach. first of all, all the un systems should have collaborated together, working together. when ebola happened in western africa, liberia, sierra leone, the fatality rate was high. much higher than coronavirus, 45% fatality rate.

that means one of 2 patients would die. for the first time in the history of the united nations united nations established a mission addressing of virus. the united nations missions, ebola, ebola, mission, ebola, emergency mission, un mpr, ghana, based on ghana we were trying to help all those affected countries and as you know we have investigations of

united nations peaks keeping forces in 1000 places, in africa and middle east elsewhere and for the first time in history the united nations again deployed military forces, united states, united kingdom, france, deployed military forces so that the north korean movement is locked down at the time so this is what we were able to do. in the case of covid 19 it was mainly done -- what the united states will do at the beginning but is unacceptable, congress, the united states, the case of

ebola, one day adopted resolution that ebola was a serious threat for the peace and security of the international community. what happens to ebola? it took three months for the security council to declare covid 19 was a serious threat. because of the division among big powers, between western powers and china about the origin of this ebola. there is a huge difference, even as former secretary general, in some way, with whom i worked very closely, and then advance that this issue should

be handled by the united nations organization, not the nature alone. this is a lesson we must learn very seriously, not to repeat the same mistakes if and when this virus may happen. the virus can happen any time, a human being has been devastating the ecosystem but then i think the more and more pandemics may happen is why we have to take action. repeatedly stating why the service, nature has its own way. we cannot negotiate with mother

nature, and then a few years ago as retired secretary general, no such covid 19, inspiring -- god forgives party, human beings sometimes covid, nature sometimes -- nature never forgives. this is very true. nature will never tolerate what human beings have been abusing, the privileges, privileges given to us by our nature. this is a lesson. humanity and the planet. >> host: in your opening remarks you mentioned what the g7 is doing and donating, vaccines to poor countries. do you believe that wealthy

countries, and the g7, need to do more? >> i think they should do more, as everybody in 7 countries and many other countries only for themselves. now that the united states and europeans have some sort of herd immunity, it was quite encouraging that they decided to provide an billion, i think it will become more, the united states president, joe biden, announced the us will provide $500 million out of this and another one, as a way to

address, $100 million, which was committed in 2009, at the time of the paris agreement this is the first year to organize $100 million, expected g7 countries, more than roadmaps, how they mobilize it this way other than saying in words. as to global leaders, i signed a letter of appeal for leaders of the g7 to do that and i am grateful for their response, their constant response at the

g7 meeting but it is not a g7 meeting, g7 countries, leaders should also do all they can and there should be a global path for did strongly like a civil society. there is strong partnership among the supreme entities, we will be much better. we can do this in a sustainable way and as you may see, i am wearing this patch. this is for sustainable development goals. the united nations made this one as a way to let people know

the importance of sustainability going forward. i always talk about the importance of implementing all 17 goals and targets. this is our very important mandate and responsibility as a global citizen. >> speaking of sustainable development goals, how effective have they been so far and do you think they will meet the ambitious deadline? >> guest: it is much better than development goals, developing goals were intended to help those developing countries and the results was not that successful except goal number one. reducing the number of people

living in abject poverty associated, it was possible because of the tiniest able to lift almost 400 million people out of poverty by 2010 and then to be clear the number one goal, are the goals like many still by the time 2015 descended and was targeted and there were still 60 million people, to school and many people suffering hiv-aids and many people dying from preventable diseases.

they were targeted by those with 9 more years to go who really must modernize all necessary resources. science and technology and stronger global, this is the way we can reduce our number of people who are not educated or suffering object poverty, dying from preventable diseases. people die unnecessarily. >> host: let's go back to talking about your memoir for a little bit.

you say in your book the 2010 colorado outbreak destroyed their un's reputation in haiti and your critical of the lawsuits victims have brought over the outbreak. is it fair to criticize the victims pursuing lawsuits it is there something the un can do to repair its reputation in the eyes of the haitian? >> i never criticize the victims who wanted to get legal aid. only point, there was time to say it was not done legally with internet convention on diplomatic privilege and immunity. this is what i did to say and i really did my best effort as a human being and as a secretary general. i was the second person after

secretary of state simpson, to haiti, and with president clinton, special envoy on haiti, we sat down together and invited global leaders to mobilize necessary funding. $9.9 billion were mobilized in a single day, that is a record-breaking at the time, then i went to haiti several times, meeting families of the victims and sympathize with them.

and and and had the system worked, had it broken down by that time, and the government has not been moving. without airing people. with poverty, and in the course of that and the cholera epidemic, with peacekeepers. that is why i established expert scientists, a group of

scientists, in india and the finding, and the force of the confluence of circumstances, people in terms of health and the systems, there was a challenge against whether they found the course of 50 first and that is why i established a second second expert group for different people and different countries. i really wanted as much compassionate as possible as much as the united nations system could do, to mobilize.

as i was leaving my job on december 1st, 2016, i finally reported to the general assembly, made by apology, the united nations had not been able to do as much as we should have done and also forced to establish sort of trust fund element funds $400 million in perpetuity for member states support was utterly meaningless. it was not funded much but i had to leave. to depend on this one. i'm not trying to avoid any

responsibilities. i apologized and responsibilities. i hope on this issue, the un should have learned, the un lost the most number, 100 to including the hipaa rendition, with un peacekeeping mission commanding general so we lost a lot, the most number of sacrifices that happened to the united nations peacekeeping operations. >> host: if not lawsuits what can the grieving people do after this?

>> guest: when it comes to losses the state department of the united states says it had no jurisdiction over this issue and with district court and peace court did not have jurisdiction and the united nations was not the subject of a legal suit. this is affected. at the time that they were embarrassed and we were trying to defend by our lawyers, it is because of the international law at the convention which declared the un was not legally liable way and was not the

subject of legal truth. there should be no misunderstanding. >> host: can the un repair its reputation in haiti and what are some actions to ensure that what happened but never happen again? >> guest: even now, the un should and could do more with the notion of community. we dispatched the engineering team to china, japan and korea, they were the first respondents in the engineering team, many latin american, to neighboring countries and 11 euros in 2010.

i hope they do more. and the outcome of retirement, not between much with standards, who had been lowered because there are so many issues, i hope there should be more with the haitian people.

>> host: to israel and gaza, in may and the most recent attacks earlier this week and what actions should be un take? >> guest: my 2 state solution remains the best way to ensure equal rights and prosperity for policy and people. i am afraid to tell you, increasingly more now. after three days, government was restored under the leadership of prime minister bennett, they had airstrikes, a

countermeasure against hamas, the reality, what is happening on the ground is very worrisome traveling for me. with palestine, is not something, the latest cycle of -- palestine, with consequences addressing the root causes, i had been meeting form prime

minister netanyahu so many times and also a politician and military leaders many times during my tenure time, the priority issues, the recent 11 day war continues and hamas was one of the more serious, with diplomacy, as a conveyor belt, diplomacy. when there's a crisis that

happened in late december 2008 i went to this region, and and then i did it cloying, and the first thing i did, and president barack of egypt. and israel should declare peace by any matter.

and asked him to prove it, in a letter, they continue to attack, and proved immediately, to get some influence to the king of jordan, and went to syria meeting president abbas, and asked him why don't you forging hamas to get to a letter of the season of israel.

and how are you not doing anything, and with discussing prices from syria to egypt, saying, to the unilateral cease-fire, passed away the perceptive violence, second time, flew together with

secretary clinton and the secretary of state, trying to convince the regional leaders, to deport the last most recent, 11 days, and israelis and now that there is a new government, israeli and palestinian leaders sit down together and try to make an agreement, shouldn't that be broken by one side and

accountability, and the cycle of continuation, i expect a new prime minister and president abbas to sit down together, and the continuing source of country, and a violation, and

they leave side-by-side with peace and security and the 2 state solution. i'm urging against the israelis, there were more and more from out-of-state, that they can agree on it this weekend. >> host: let me take a moment to thank the organizers of today's event, co-team leaders, donna, langland, and lori russo, today's headliner event coordinator, alyssa freeze,

club membership director kate health trump and club executive director bill mccarron. i would like to tell you about our upcoming national press club atlantis, on august 2nd we documentary filmmakers ken burns, sarah burns and david mcmahon to discuss their new pbs documentary mohammed ali. on august 6th please join us to hear from us air force chief of staff general charles q brown junior who will speak about the air force's mission in an ever-changing international environment. now for the last question. .. spent what is something everyone should know?

and then to be one-sided and to relay on anything with that general in support and then try to make yourself by the other party. that you can learn and it

doesn't have any value first of all. and for example for example, i've been speaking to our u.n. staff, and even i talked to president obama, that his leadership style should be like water. water flows constantly from higher ground to lower ground. if water does not flow and stay one place, what becomes

sustained and corrupt. this is sort of corruption. what does that confront? unnecessary. it just flows when it meets rock in the middle of the river and it just goes around this rock unnecessary. but if and when it is absolutely necessary, a can adjust around rocks and even destroy. [singing] , concrete buildings and everything can be t swept away t does not use that kind of force. however, you may be source for power, you should not use that power in theul negotiation. then this is the lesson, the

basic nature of the water. this is what the chinese philosopher 2000 years ago taught us, and is influenced the need very heavily. i have really been trying to teach the lessons to other people. then what is important is mutual respect. the other is enemy. listen carefully what their concerns are, what is the concern. you should be ready to accommodate their concern as much as possible rather than just insisting on your own. you cannotwn be involved always

forever. this agreement is not sustainable. that is what we are seeing in the case of middle east sides, palestine. you cannot usedl always force. try to understand what their genuine concerns and estimations are. that is the sort of thing any negotiator should know. that has been my style, my way of diplomacy. with that i have been, first of all, respect and support and trust in me from the other leaders. then on the basis of this i want to say what united nations really wanted.

>> i know it's very late for you in korea but we have a student question from our audience as our last question. what is the best way for a young person to become involved with the u.n., and do you have any advice for becoming a peacekeeper in the medical nonmilitary field? >> and is a 21st century i>> think this is era of youth. there was no such department or organization in the united nations when i assumed my job, then two things i i did. first, i established you in women to do much more to empower women. i think i did that a lot in terms of empowering women as all records indicate. then i thought about youth. for the first time all the young

men, special envoy on youth. he was watching with very senior leaders of leadership of united nations and also other countries, just more youth empowerment. now success of others who are in charge of this youth empowerment. in terms of scale and size and also the sources given to special envoy, it tests a very strong messages to youth around the world.

and each time afterward i went i try to meet the youth and try to give them some sense of hope, you know. for me many conditions that are better group for young people who really want to have career, life career in the united nations working for peace and human rights. and i really welcome. this is also what i did in korea, and i established a foundation for global citizenship, global citizens. so have global citizenship. i'm telling the young people, those people, young peopleeo wil have much more area to

contribute to current wars. when i was a young boy, as high school boy, i was quite fortunate enough to meet president john f. kennedy in 1962. at that time i did not meet even the mayor of my city. let alone president of korea. but i met the president of the united states. at that time he gave us very inspirational, inspiring message, that young people can do everything. he said that older people do not talk much but you jump people can do it. you can do much.

you are ready to extend your helping hands. that is very inspiring, so have some compassion. of course you must have full of passion. so this passion should be with confession. then all you can become genuine global citizens and you can contribute to the rest, i mean, to the well-being of all people and human rights and the peace and development of this work. and i really count on young generations future. >> well, thank you very much for coming today to talk about your memoir and about some current events happening. >> thank you. thank you very much. >> thankuc you. >> thank you for this opportunity.

>> watch booktv now on sundays on c-span2 or find it online any time at booktv.org. television for serious readers. >> in june, robert gottlieb, the man who has been the final editor of all of robert caro z s books wrote an essay in the "new york times." the focus was on john gunther and the 900 page book you wrote sony five years ago called inside usa. in his opinion, he was quote probably the best reporter america and were had, unquote. we wanted to find out more about the publishing success story so we called canadian freelance writer to talk with him about his 1992 book