1. Korea was elected as next Chair of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on September 27, 2021, by consensus at the Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria.

° This is the first time for Korea to assume the chairmanship since it joined the IAEA in 1957 as one of its founding members.

° The term of the chairmanship starts in September 2021 and lasts for one year. H.E. Shin Chae-Hyun, Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, will serve as Chair.

2. The IAEA is the premier international organization for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field. Its Board of Governors consists of 35 member states. It is a key policy-making body of the IAEA. It examines and makes recommendations to the General Conference on the practical issues of the IAEA, such as the investigation and verification of safeguard measures on the nuclear activities of countries including Iran and North Korea, nuclear safety, nuclear security, and applications of nuclear technologies.

° The Chair of the Board presides over the meetings of the Board which generally take place five times per year, and the meetings of the two standing Committees of the Board -- the Programme and Budget Committee and the Technical Assistance and Cooperation Committee. The Chair also holds consultations and coordinates with the Secretariat of the IAEA, regional groups, and like-minded groups of the IAEA on the key issues of the Board before the meetings.

3. Korea’s chairmanship of the Board of Governors of the IAEA, which plays a pivotal role in the fields of the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the peaceful use of nuclear energy, is attributable to the country’s exemplary record in non-proliferation and active contributions to the IAEA in the field.

4. As Chair of the IAEA’s Board of Governors, the Korean government will expand its involvement in and contributions to the key IAEA issues and win stronger support from the international community on the North Korean nuclear issue and for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.