(Itar-Tass) - The UN General Assembly appointed without voting South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon as UN Secretary-General for the period from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2011.
The decision was passed by acclamation, on the basis of unanimous approval, reports Trend.
The term of office of incumbent UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan ends on December 31, 2006.
Ban Ki-moon, 62, will be the eighth UN Secretary-General and Asia's second representative in the post in the UN's history.
On October 9, The UN Security Council recommended appointing the South Korean minister as UN Secretary-General.
The president of the 61st session of the General Assembly, Haya Rashid al-Khalif, said in a congratulatory address to the new secretary general that the UN would move forward on the basis of its earlier achievements under the guidance of Ban Ki-moon and would become a still more effective organization.
Ban Ki-moon was the head of South Korea's diplomatic mission at the UN in the 1970s and of the UN General Assembly president's office in 2001-02.
Kofi Annan expressed satisfaction with the timely choice of his successor, which he said showed determination of the member states to achieve rapid results and a high appraisal of personal and professional assets of the next UN chief.
He stressed that the extensive experience of Ban Ki-moon would allow him to act effectively and at the highest levels.
He called Ban Ki-moon a man with truly global thinking, who took a place at the helm of the sole universal organization in the world.