(CNN) -- Here's a look at the life of Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General.
Personal: Birth date: June 13, 1944
Birth place: Chunchongbuk-do Umsong, Republic of Korea
Birth name: Ban Ki-moon
Parents: Names unknown to Fast Facts researchers.
Marriage: Yoo Soon-taek (1971 - present)
Children: One son and two daughters
Education: Seoul National University, B.A., 1970; Harvard University, M.A., 1985
Other Facts: Name is pronounced Bahn Gi-moon, with the K uttered as a hard "g". As with many East Asian countries, the first name is actually the last name. Therefore he is referred to as Mr. Ban.
As a teen, he won a Red Cross sponsored trip to the U.S. He met President John F. Kennedy, and decided then that he wanted to become a diplomat.
Timeline: 1970 - Passes the South Korean Foreign Service exam.
1972-1974 - Vice-consul, South Korean Consulate General in India
1974-1978 - Second Secretary, South Korean Embassy in India.
1978-1980 - Secretary, South Korean Permanent Observer Mission to the UN.
1987-1990 - Consul General, South Korean Embassy to the US in Washington D.C.
1992-1995 - Minister, South Korean Embassy to the US.
1996 - National Security Adviser to South Korean President Kim Young-sam.
1998-2000 - South Korean Ambassador to Austria.
1999 - Chairman of the preparatory commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization.
2001-2002 - Chef de Cabinet during the South Korean presidency of the UN General Assembly.
2003 - Foreign Policy Adviser to the South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.
January 2004 - Appointed South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
February 14, 2006 - Officially declares his candidacy for secretary-general.
October 9, 2006 - Formally nominated by the United Nations Security Council to be the next secretary-general, replacing Kofi Annan.
October 13, 2006 - Appointed by the UN General Assembly.
January 1, 2007 - Ban takes office as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations.
March 22, 2007 - Makes an unannounced visit to Baghdad, Iraq to meet with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. During a live news conference with al-Maliki in Baghdad's Green Zone, a rocket hits just outside the room and Ban is visibly startled though unhurt.
January 20, 2009 - Tours the burned out ruins of UN compound in Gaza City which was destroyed by an Israeli bomb.
June 7, 2011 - President Barack Obama endorses Ban's run for re-election as secretary-general.
June 21, 2011 - Ban is appointed to a second term as UN secretary-general, by acclamation.
December 9, 2011 - Ban pays an unannounced visit to Mogadishu, Somalia, the first time a UN chief has visited Somalia in nearly 20 years.
April 30, 2012 - Addresses Myanmar's Parliament, becoming the first foreigner to do so since military rule began in 1962.
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