South Korea is set to nominate its first-ever candidate for the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the upcoming election this November.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 26, the South Korean candidate is Baek Jin-hyun, a former president of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). Baek served as an ITLOS judge from 2009 to 2023 and held the position of president from 2017 to 2020.
The ICJ is the principal judicial body of the United Nations, addressing legal disputes between states and providing advisory opinions on legal questions referred by the UN General Assembly and Security Council.
While South Korea has previously elected judges to the ITLOS and the International Criminal Court (ICC), it has never had a judge on the ICJ since its establishment in 1945. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that South Korea's late admission to the UN in 1991 contributed to the lack of a Korean judge, as regional seat allocations in international organizations were already established by that time.
This election will fill five judges' seats whose terms are expiring. The election is scheduled for November 3 and will feature candidates from eight countries, including South Korea.
Although the ICJ's election rules do not allocate specific seats to regions, historical practices suggest that one seat will likely be assigned to Asia. This has led to a competitive landscape among candidates from South Korea, Singapore, and Jordan. Typically, this seat has been distributed among South Asia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
The Jordanian candidate, Mahmoud Daifallah Hamoud, is a current ICJ judge seeking re-election. He has previously served as the chair of the International Law Commission (ILC) and has held the position of ambassador to the UN. Given that sitting judges rarely lose re-election bids, he is considered a strong candidate due to the so-called 'incumbent premium.'
Singapore's candidate is Lena Lee, the country's ambassador for international law. Lee has chaired intergovernmental meetings on the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) negotiations for approximately five years.
Baek, the South Korean candidate, has 14 years of experience as an ITLOS judge. He is currently an emeritus professor at Seoul National University and serves as an advisor at the International Law Center of the National Diplomatic Academy. He is also the only South Korean lifetime member of the International Law Institute (IDI).
The South Korean government has been supporting Baek's campaign. On September 14, a promotional event for his candidacy was held for the diplomatic corps in South Korea, hosted by Foreign Minister Park Jin.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.