United Nations ? The U.N. General Assembly appointed South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon as the next U.N. secretary-general Friday, and the veteran diplomat who grew up during a war that divided his country pledged to make peace with North Korea a top priority.

The assembly’s action on Ban capped the remarkable rise of a man who was little known outside Asia before launching his campaign to succeed Kofi Annan. It also marked a milestone for South Korea, which only joined the United Nations in 1991 and still has U.N. troops on the tense border with the North.

Ban has been at the forefront of South Korea’s nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang and has said he plans to travel to North Korea as secretary-general, something Annan never did. He said last month he would use the authority of the U.N. position to promote peace and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula “and a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue.”

Ban, 62, will become the eighth secretary-general in the U.N.’s 60-year history on Jan. 1 when Annan’s second five-year term expires.