Seoul — A US bribery case against two relatives has cast a pall over former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon’s planned return on Thursday to South Korea, where he is expected to launch a bid to run for president. Ban has not declared his candidacy but has had a team of people laying the groundwork in Seoul for a possible presidential campaign ahead of his arrival. The former foreign minister consistently polls as a top candidate as South Korea braces for the possibility of an early election following parliament’s December impeachment of President Park Geun-hye in an influence-peddling scandal. Park has been suspended. If a constitutional court upholds the impeachment, Park would become South Korea’s first democratically elected leader to leave office in disgrace, triggering an election two months later. Lee Do-woon, Ban’s spokesman, was quick to distance Ban from an indictment filed against Ban’s younger brother and his nephew in a Manhattan federal court. It accuses Ban’s relatives...
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