U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's confidants have sounded out the possibility of Ban's running for president in his native South Korea, an opposition politician claimed Monday, despite Ban's apparent objection to get involved in local politics.
   
Ban's second five-year term is set to end at the end of 2016, a year before South Koreans go to the polls to elect a new president who will replace President Park Geun-hye.
   
Park's single five-year term ends in early 2018, and by law, she cannot seek re-election.
   
Kwon Roh-kap, an adviser to the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, claimed people seen as confidants to Ban discussed the possibility of Ban's running for South Korea's top office on the opposition ticket.
   
He said he told Ban's confidants that he respects the U.N.
chief and that the opposition should ask Ban to join the party and compete in the party's primary for the presidential nomination for the election.
   
Kwon, a former top aide to late liberal President Kim Dae-jung, did not identify Ban's confidants.
   
Ban was not immediately reached for comment.
   
Kwon made the comments to reporters in a ceremony in the parliament to mark the publication of his memoirs.
   
The comments came more than a week after a recent poll found that Ban, who served as foreign minister for liberal President Roh Moo-hyun, received nearly 40 percent of public support as a possible candidate for the presidential election.
   
Last month, Ban said he is not a person who has been involved in politics, according to Yoo Ki-june, a ruling party lawmaker who met Ban during his visit to the U.S. as part of an annual parliamentary inspection of South Korea's diplomatic missions.
   
Yoo also quoted Ban as saying it is wrong to get involved half in politics and half in foreign affairs.

Despite Ban's apparent objection to join politics, Ban is rumored as a potential candidate for the presidential election in South Korea in December 2017. (Yonhap)