Ki-tack Lim to head International Maritime Organization

Lim, a native of South Korea, is currently the president of the Port of Busan, but has spent years working at the United Nations agency.    South Korea’s Ki-tack Lim has been elected as the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, besting five other candidates for the post.
   Lim will take office January 1, 2016, for an initial term of four years, succeeding Koji Sekimizu of Japan, who has headed the IMO since 2012.
   Headquartered in London, the IMO is the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.
   Lim is currently president of Busan Port Authority, but knows the UN agency well. He began attending IMO meetings as part of the delegation from the Republic of Korea in 1986, actively participating in maritime safety and environmental protection issues. From 1992, he engaged in activities to promote maritime safety through effective implementation of IMO conventions in his country and other IMO Member States in the Asian region. He was elected Chairman of the Tokyo Memorandum on Port State Control in 2004.
   He served as the Republic of Korea’s Deputy Permanent Representative to IMO from 2006 to 2009 and was Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Flag State Implementation (FSI) from 2002 to 2004.
   In 2006, Lim was appointed as Maritime Attaché, minister-counselor at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in London and led all IMO work for the Republic of Korea, serving as Deputy Permanent Representative to IMO up to August 2009.
   Further information about Lim is available in the IMO announcement regarding his election.