The President at the time was Roh Moo-hyun, and the Prime Ministers included Goh Kun, Lee Hae-chan, Han Duck-soo, and Han Myeong-sook. He was preceded by Yoon Young-kwan and succeeded by Song Min-soon. In the beginning of his career as Secretary-General, Ban was immediately faced with the death penalty designated for Saddam Hussein, which he refused to condemn, claiming the capital punishment is not the decision of one person. Ban’s focused remained on global warming, the Middle East, Darfur, Myanmar, and LGBT rights throughout the years. He presented a speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2012 in effort to fight homophobia and decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Among the officials in the South Korean Foreign Ministry, Ban developed nicknames including “the Bureaucrat” or “the administrative clerk,” “the slippery eel,” and “stand-up guy.”