Ki-tack Lim, the current President of the Busan Port Authority, has been elected as the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which is to take effect from January 1, 2016, for an initial term of four years.
The vote took place during the 114th session of the 40-member IMO Council, which is meeting from June 29 to July 3, 2015.
The decision of the council will be submitted to the IMO Assembly, which meets for its 29th session from November 23 to December 2, 2015, for approval.
Ki-tack Lim served as the Republic of Korea’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the IMO from 2006 to 2009 and was Chairman of the Sub-Committee on flag state implementation from 2002 to 2004.
Mr Lim is due to publish a Technical Paper in the next edition of the PTI journal; the Mega-Port Issue.
Fact File: Mr Lim was born in Masan, Gyeongsangnam-do, one of the major port cities in the Republic of Korea. He majored in Nautical Science at the Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Busan, graduating in 1977.
Mr Lim 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.
In March 2011, Mr Lim was appointed Commissioner of the Korean Maritime Safety Tribunal. In July 2012, he took the position of President of the Busan Port Authority.