UN Chief plans to visit S. Korea next month

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon plans to visit South Korea next month to attend an international conference aimed at promoting education in human rights, literacy and other issues. Ban, who was re-elected last month to a second term as leader of the UN, will take part in the three-day UN Academic Impact conference in Seoul that begins August 9, officials at the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE) said. About 400 university officials from around the world will attend the conference, jointly hosted by South Korea's foreign and education ministries. It would be the first such conference in Asia, KCUE officials said, according to South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap). Initiated by Ban in 2008, the Academic Impact is a UN-backed global initiative that calls for institutions of higher education around the world to support 10 "universally accepted" principles in the areas of human rights, literacy, sustainability and conflict resolution.