1. The Republic of Korea was re-elected as a member of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council’s Category A group, composed of states with the largest interest in providing international shipping services, at the 30th session of the IMO Assembly in London on December 1, local time. It marked the ninth consecutive time that the ROK has been elected to the Council, the IMO’s major decision-making body.

※ The IMO Council is comprised of 40 countries classified into Category A (ten states with the largest interest in providing international shipping services); Category B (ten states with the largest interest in international seaborne trade); and Category C (20 states with special interests in maritime transport or navigation and whose election to the Council will ensure the representation of all major geographic areas of the world). The members are elected every two years.

※ Along with the ROK, Japan, China, Italy, Greece, the UK, the US, Panama, Russia and Norway were elected as members of Category A.

2. The ROK, after joining Category C in 1991 for the first time, served five consecutive terms in the group. First elected to Category A in 2001, the country has been serving nine consecutive terms in the group. The country’s continued service on the IMO Council has helped reaffirm its growing leverage in the IMO as well as its standing as the country of origin of IMO Secretary-General Lim Ki-tack (2016-2019).

3. The ROK’s latest election to the IMO Council in the wake of that of Lim Ki-tack as IMO Secretary-General on June 30, 2015, is expected to help further enhance the country’s international standing as a powerhouse in maritime transport and shipbuilding.


* unofficial translation