Yukio Takasu, Japan's former ambassador to the United Nations, has been appointed as the world body's undersecretary general for management, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon announced.
Takasu, who served from July 2007 to August 2010, began working as Ban's special adviser on human security issues last year.
He will become the only present Japanese undersecretary general at the United Nations when he assumes the post, as Kiyotaka Akasaka resigned from his position as undersecretary general for communications and public information in March.
The U.N. has yet to say when Takasu will take up his new post.
As he announced the appointment Wednesday, Ban said he expects Takasu to put his vast experience to use as undersecretary general, "including expertise in terms of accountability, transparency, efficient use of resources and coherence — all of which are critical to U.N. reform" efforts.
Born in 1946 in Yokohama, Takasu graduated from Britain's Oxford University and was recruited by the Foreign Ministry in 1969. He went on to serve in various overseas posts, including in Washington, London, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.