WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― Jim Yong Kim, a Korean-born physician nominated by President Barack Obama to head the World Bank, will visit his motherland South Korea and six other nations, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Monday.
The 11-day tour of South Korea, Ethiopia, China, Japan, India, Brazil, and Mexico, set to begin on Tuesday, is apparently part of efforts to drum up support in advance of a meeting of the World Bank’s 25-member executive board in April to select its new leader.
The department described it as a “Listening Tour.”
“Dr. Kim will meet with heads of state, finance ministers and other stakeholders to solicit their priorities for the World Bank over the coming years,” it said in a statement.
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Jim Yong Kim |
Born in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, in 1959, Kim moved to the U.S. with his family when he was five years old. Kim has served as the president of Dartmouth College since 2009.
He is known for his tireless efforts to fight HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Africa.
Obama’s unexpected pick of the Korean-American figure was seen as aimed at countering a claim by African and Latin American countries that the U.S., the world’s largest economy with the biggest clout in the World Bank, has only installed Americans in the top post at the 187-nation World Bank.
The Washington-based institution is tasked with reducing poverty and supporting development as a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries.
If formally chosen, Kim will replace Robert Zoellick, a former U.S. diplomat, who is to retire in June.
