DIPLOMATIC TIMES STAFF 

Delegates attending INTERPOL’s General Assembly in Dubai this week elected Kim Jong Yang of the Republic of South Korea as the international police organization’s new President.  

“Our world is now facing unprecedented changes which present huge challenges to public security and safety. To overcome them, we need a clear vision: we need to build a bridge to the future,”

Mr Kim said , pledging to ensure that the member countries most in need would receive the full support of INTERPOL’s range of policing capabilities.

Kim was elected at the 87th session of the organization’s general assembly in Dubai, which gathered around 1,000 senior law enforcement officials from across the globe. Kim will serve as president for the remainder of the current mandate, until 2020.  Kim has extensive national and international policing experience . He has been serving as the Organization’s Vice President for Asia since 2015 and was Head of INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau in Seoul from 2011 to 2012. 

Secretary General Jürgen Stock, the Organization’s senior full-time official who oversees the day-to-day running of INTERPOL’s General Secretariat, welcomed the appointment of Mr Kim.

“Mr Kim has many years’ experience of our governance and I look forward to working with him to give our membership the best possible support in this dynamic and changing global security environment,” said the INTERPOL Chief.

The role of the President is to chair the General Assembly and three meetings of the Executive Committee each year. The Executive Committee’s role is to oversee the implementation of decisions made by the General Assembly.