[Newsmaker] Busan port chief to head U.N. maritime body

Since Ban Ki-moon was first named new secretary-general of the United Nations in 2006, South Korea has waited for another Korean global leader to be named.

Nine years later, the president of Busan Port Authority, Lim Ki-tack, has been elected to head the United Nations maritime body. 

The 58-year-old veteran is the first South Korean to take the secretary-general position of the International Maritime Organization, the U.N. agency responsible for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution.

“I first will take on my role to seek healthy growth of the world’s marine industry and set rules as the head of an U.N. organization,” Lim said.

On Tuesday, Lim was chosen in a secret ballot vote of the 40-member IMO Council. He beat out five other candidates, from Cyprus, Russia, the Philippines, Denmark and Kenya, for the position.

Lim’s four-year term will start on Jan. 1 and run until 2020, replacing incumbent Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu.

Lim has nearly four decades of experience in the maritime industry and began attending IMO meetings as part of the South Korean delegation in 1986.

He was named the chairman of the Subcommittee on Flag State Implementation from 2002 to 2004. Lim served a three-year tenure as the deputy permanent representative to the IMO starting in 2006. While serving in this capacity, he was in charge of all IMO work for South Korea.

Headquartered in London, the IMO’s primary purpose is to develop and maintain a comprehensive regulatory framework for shipping with 171 member states and three associate members. South Korea joined the organization in 1962.

Its areas of work include safety, environmental concerns, legal matters, technical cooperation, maritime security and the efficiency of shipping.

South Korea has been consolidating its position as the world’s biggest shipbuilder, making the IMO’s influence on the country inevitable.

“As the world‘s No. 1 country in shipbuilding and No. 5 in shipping, South Korea has been fostering the maritime industry under the IMO’s international standards,” Lim said.

For instance, South Korean shipbuilding companies benefited from the IMO’s new rule introducing double-hull requirements for oil tankers, as they received a great number of orders for new tankers.

IMO is the source of approximately 60 legal instruments that guide the regulatory development of its member states to improve safety at sea, facilitate trade among seafaring states and protect the maritime environment. It also adopted some 1,800 resolutions.

“I plan to expand South Korea’s role in the international maritime realm and foster the country’s global reputation and its economy,” Lim said.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)