Lee Jaeseop, Director General of ITU Standardization Bureau, Challenges to Become Korea's First ITU Deputy Secretary-General

Competition in This Month's ITU Plenipotentiary Conference Election
Key Organization for Global Telecommunication Technology Standardization
If Elected, Expected to Achieve 'Korean Telecommunication Powerhouse' Status and Aid Industry Development

Lee Jae-seop, current Director of the Standardization Bureau at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] Director Jaesub Lee, who was elected as the first Korean Director of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Standardization Bureau 8 years ago, is now challenging for the position of ITU Deputy Secretary-General. If a Korean is elected to a high-ranking position in the ITU, one of the key organizations leading global telecommunication technology standardization, it is expected to greatly contribute to achieving Korea’s goal of becoming a telecommunications powerhouse and to the development of the industry.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 20th, Director Jaesub Lee will compete in the final round against two candidates from Lithuania and Samoa in the election for Deputy Secretary-General at the 21st ITU Plenipotentiary Conference to be held on the 26th in Bucharest, Romania. A close contest with the Lithuanian candidate is anticipated.

The Deputy Secretary-General, included among the five high-ranking elected officials along with the Secretary-General, is decided by a vote of the 193 member countries at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference held every four years. A candidate must obtain more than half (50%) of the valid votes to be elected.

Candidate Lee is an expert who has worked in the global standardization field of information and communication technology for about 34 years since 1987. As a network specialist, he served as a senior researcher at KT, and as a research fellow at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) and KAIST. After being elected as the first Korean Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau in 2014, he has been overseeing the bureau’s work to this day. The Telecommunication Standardization Bureau is responsible for setting international standards in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G.

The government completed the registration of candidate Lee with the ITU Secretariat last November and has actively promoted him through multilateral meetings with cooperating countries and international events. Minister Jongho Lee of the Ministry of Science and ICT, currently on a tour of the United States, plans to visit Romania after completing his schedule in Canada to deliver a support speech.

The telecommunications industry has high expectations for candidate Lee’s election as Deputy Secretary-General. An industry official said, "When ITU meetings are held, presentations that serve as standards come first, followed by discussions. The Secretariat’s role is very important in setting the direction of global telecommunication standards," adding, "It will also make it easier to grasp global ICT trends, which will help with research and development (R&D) preparations."

A Ministry of Science and ICT official said, "Director Lee is gaining support and trust mainly from developing countries including those in Africa," and added, "Although Korea is an Asian country rather than a Western country, it is recognized as an ‘ICT leader’ in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region thanks to its outstanding ICT technology."

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