Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nominates Incumbent Director of International Legal Affairs as Candidate for Judge Election at International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 30th that it has decided to nominate Lee Ja-hyung, Director General of the International Legal Affairs Bureau, as a candidate for the 2023 International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) judge election.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained on the same day, “We comprehensively considered the candidate's experience and capabilities, the enhancement of dispute response capabilities in the international law practice community, opinions from related organizations, and cases from other countries including major maritime nations.”

This is the first time the government has nominated a current diplomat, rather than an international law scholar, as a candidate for ITLOS judge.

The government plans to engage in diplomatic activities to gather support for the candidate until the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) Assembly in June 2023, when the election will be held. It is also reported that the nomination of Lee will be circulated to related countries early next year.

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, located in Hamburg, Germany, is responsible for resolving disputes related to the interpretation and application of UNCLOS. It is composed of 21 judges serving nine-year terms (renewable), who are elected by vote at the UNCLOS Assembly.

Judges serve as international civil servants and adjudicate impartially, but having a judge from one's own country at ITLOS is generally considered significant, and election campaigns are held by various countries when selecting new judges.

In Korea’s case, the late Judge Park Chun-ho, who was a professor at Korea University Law School, served as a judge from 1996 to 2008, and since 2009, Professor Baek Jin-hyun of Seoul National University Graduate School of International Studies has served as a judge.

The Korean Society of International Law is also known to have recommended multiple candidates from academia through its standing board in accordance with relevant regulations, but the final authority to nominate the candidate rests with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.