For the most significant project of his life, South Korean painter Lee Won-hee visited the United Nations Headquarters in New York to get an impression of Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in his natural appearance. The portrait of Ban Ki-Moon took Lee six months to paint. 

At the unveiling ceremony, the Secretary-General remarked to Lee: “You have depicted me in my office, the place from which I have sought to serve the world’s people for the past decade. You have posed me with my hand resting on our one and only planet – starting with my home continent of Asia. And I am wearing a UN blue tie – reflecting the banner of hope I first saw as a young child.” 

Ban Ki-moon’s portrait was unveiled at the United Nations Headquarters on 14 December 2016 and is hung alongside the portraits of the Secretary-General’s seven predecessors on the ground floor the of Secretariat building.