At the beginning of his term, Ban was faced with two major crises: in June 2004 Kim Sun-il, a South Korean working as an Arabic translator, was kidnapped and killed in Iraq by Islamic extremists; and in December 2004 dozens of Koreans died in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Pada awal masa jabatannya, Ban menghadapi dua krisis utama: Di bulan Juni 2004, Kim Sun-il, seorang penerjemah Korea diculik dan dibunuh di Irak oleh kelompok ekstrem; dan pada bulan Desember 2004, banyak warga Korea Selatan yang meninggal akibat tsunami di Samudra Hindia.