Kim Jong Yang of the Republic of Korea has been elected President of INTERPOL

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

Kim brings a wealth of national and international policing experience to the post. 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.

Kim will hold the post of President for two years until 2020. While the President is usually elected for a period of four years, Kim is completing the mandate of former President Meng Hongwei of China, who resigned in October 2018.

The General Assembly democratically elects the President and other Executive Committee members on a ‘one country one vote’ basis with each vote carrying equal weight.

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.

Meeting in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 18-21 November, the 87th session of the General Assembly comprised some 1,000 senior law enforcement officials from 180 countries. They discussed a range of policing issues such as the threats and opportunities posed by technology for police, as well as taking institutional decisions.

The Assembly also elected six new members of the Executive Committee, the 13-member body that provides guidance and direction to the Organization. Delegates are generally appointed for three years and according to a balanced regional representation. The new members are:

Néstor Roncaglia of Argentina (Vice President for the Americas)
Destino Pedro of Angola (Delegate for Africa)
Gilles Michaud of Canada (Delegate for the Americas)
Ahmed Nasser Al-Raisi of the United Arab Emirates (Delegate for Asia)
Noboru Nakatani of Japan (Delegate for Asia)
Jannine van den Berg of the Netherlands (Delegate for Europe)

The General Assembly also voted to accept two new member countries, Kiribati and Vanuatu, bringing the total number of member countries to 194.

Image: INTERPOL website