UNITED NATIONS — Days from taking over as secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon says he wants “close cooperation”with America, and that to get it, he will deal with both parties in Washington, act “early” and decisively to tame Turtle Bay’s bureaucratic beast, and tackle “turbulent” relations with Israel.

These are goals that if achieved will mark a clear departure from the era of his predecessor, Kofi Annan. But for now, Mr. Ban is mostly relying on qualities he describes as “harmonizer and bridge builder,” while major decisions are either kept close to the vest or are yet to be made.

Speaking in a transitional office suite across the street from the U.N. headquarters Friday, just before flying for a final week at home in Seoul, South Korea, prior to assuming his new job January 1, Mr. Ban walked a reporter out after concluding the first interview he gave to an American newspaper since being sworn in by the General Assembly on December 14.

“I will need a lot of help” from The New York Sun, he said. After this reporter made reference to a honeymoon period, he upped the ante. “I’ve had 35 years of honeymoon” with wife Yoo Soon-taek, he said.

Armed with an engaging smile and the ability to use evasive language to escape making a commitment before being ready for it, Mr. Ban hopes to turn around ill feelings built up in America toward the United Nations before and during his predecessor’s term.

To succeed in making structural changes to the U.N. bureaucracy, he says, “It’s better to do it early.” But Turtle Bay’s political pressures may prevent quick action. Regional and gender quotas have unexpectedly forced Mr. Ban to spend a lot of his time wrangling with member states, delaying announcement of significant appointments, like that of his deputy.

Mr. Ban, 62, relies solely on outside advice when it comes to unfamiliar issues like the Middle East. Thus, to Jerusalem’s chagrin, the former South Korean foreign minister places Israel’s war with the Palestinian Arabs at the center of all regional problems, and says he might consider meeting President Ahmadinejad of Iran.

But he is more familiar with politics in Washington, where he was posted during the 1990s.

In a key recent meeting there, Secretary of State Rice nevertheless advised Mr. Ban to make a distinction between most of America and members of the New York foreign policy establishment, according to one official familiar with the details of the meeting.

Unlike Mr. Annan, who relied solely on advice from friends allied with the Democratic Party, the very pragmatic Mr. Ban has closely consulted with the outgoing American ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, and others closer to Republicans in power.

“Now that Democratic Party is going to control the American Congress, it would also be important for me to have close dialogue with the Democratic leadership,” Mr. Ban said.”But at the same time, the Republican leadership’s participation, and understanding, and support — very much important.”

At Turtle Bay, meanwhile, no issue can attract a majority vote as easily as condemning Israel. This fact, however, is a constant gripe for Americans, who pay 22% of the U.N. budget. In Mr. Annan’s era, Holocaust denial was denounced, and Israel was accepted for the first time as a member in a General Assembly regional group.

Signaling, perhaps, that this might not be enough, Mr. Ban returned to 1991, prior to Mr. Annan’s tenure, as his point of reference. “Progress was made, for example, when the General Assembly adopted a resolution repealing Zionism equaling racism,” Mr. Ban said. “I’d like to build upon that kind of achievement.”

Israeli diplomats are increasingly concerned about the emphasis in foreign policy circles on their war with Palestinian Arabs. Israel, they say, is unfairly saddled with such issues as sectarian violence in Lebanon and Iraq.

Mr. Ban said the Middle East “by far” raises “the most important, or sensitive and complex, issues which the international community has not been able to resolve for the last six decades,” adding that at the “core” of the dispute is the “Israeli-Palestinian relations.”

And although he recently declared that Iran’s Holocaust denial and threats to wipe Israel off the map were “unacceptable,” Mr. Ban does not exclude meeting with Mr. Ahmadinejad.

“I will very closely consider with members of Security Council. When and if this required for me to take initiative, I will certainly not hesitate,” he said, speaking of a trip to Iran. As for Mr. Ahmadinejad, he added, once traveling to Tehran, “I need to talk with leadership, anybody who may be concerned.”

Several names, including that of Norwegian diplomat Terje Roed Larsen and Sweden’s Jan Eliasson, who now temporarily serves as Mr. Annan’s Darfur point man, have been floated as possibilities to be named special coordinator overseeing all Middle East issues at the United Nations. But Mr. Ban said he has not even decided yet whether to appoint such a coordinator.

Mr. Ban said he will make some announcements early in January on his appointment of chief of staff, and on filling several undersecretary-general positions that have become vacant. Other top managerial contracts expire in late February, “therefore I think I have a little bit more time,” he said.

Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown plans to leave his post along with Mr. Annan at the end of the year, but Mr. Ban said he had yet to make a decision on a replacement. Naming a deputy “is the issue which I have to consult with member states,” he said. “My policy is first of all on the basis of merit, qualification,” but a “gender balance, as well as a geographical consideration” also have to be taken into account, he said.