Ban ki-Moon takes over as UN chief

He has pointed out that the reclusive communist nation must be talked to — not just punished with sanctions for its nuclear program.

The US is certain to press Ban to expand management reforms at the UN, which outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan began.

The 192-member General Assembly, which controls the UN budget and oversees its management, has been reluctant to institute changes that Annan, and many experts say, are essential to modernise the 61-year-old world body.

His first priority, he said, will be to restore trust in the United Nations, whose reputation has been battered by the oil-for-food scandal in Iraq, corruption in the

UN’s purchasing operations and sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers.