Ban Ki-moon’s childhood dreams were to live in a safe country

On June 13, 1944, in what was then Japanese Korea, the little farming community of Haengchi, Wonnam Township, Eumseong County, gave birth to the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. He grew up in the nearby town of Chungju when his family relocated there. Ban's father ran a warehouse during his formative years, but when the business failed, the family's middle-class lifestyle was destroyed. For the majority of the Korean War, when Ban was six, his family escaped to a secluded hillside. His family came back to Chungju following the war's conclusion. According to Ban, he encountered American forces during this period.

A few years later, as tensions between South Korea and North Korea began to affect all of the people living in those nations, his country descended into complete chaos. This had a significant impact on his life because it gave him a firsthand understanding of what it was like to grow up in a nation with numerous internal and foreign conflicts, where kids were no longer allowed to have a typical childhood. Ban Ki-childhood moon's aspirations were to live in a safe nation.