Kitack Lim

Kitack Lim (Korean: 임기택; born 22 January 1956) is the current South Korean secretary general of the International Maritime Organization.[2][3][4]

Kitack Lim
Kitack Lim in 2017
9th Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2016
Preceded by	Koji Sekimizu
Personal details
Born	(1956-01-22) January 22, 1956 Masan, South Korea (present-day Changwon, South Korea)
Alma mater	Korea Maritime and Ocean University Yonsei University
Korean name
Hangul	임기택
Hanja	林基澤[1]
Revised Romanization	Im Gitaek
McCune–Reischauer	Im Kit'aek

Lim was born in Masan, Gyeongsangnam-do, a major port city in South Korea. He majored in nautical science at the Korea Maritime and Ocean University (KMOU), Busan, graduating in 1977. He worked on ships as a Republic of Korea Navy officer and for Sanko Shipping Co. He joined the Korea Maritime and Port Administration in 1985, while continuing with further studies at the Graduate School of Administration, Yonsei University, obtaining a master's degree in 1990. He then studied maritime administration with a major in navigation at the World Maritime University (WMU), graduating with a master's degree. From 1995 he attended a doctoral programme for international law at KMOU, completing course work in 1998.

Lim began attending IMO meetings as part of the South Korean delegation in 1986, actively participating in maritime safety and environmental protection issues. From 1992, he engaged in activities to promote maritime safety through effective implementation of IMO conventions in his country and other IMO member states in the Asian region. He was elected Chairman of the Tokyo Memorandum on Port State Control in 2004.

In 2006, Lim was appointed as Maritime Attaché, minister-counsellor at the Embassy of South Korea, London and led all IMO work for South Korea, serving as Deputy Permanent Representative to IMO up to August 2009.

Lim was then appointed as Director General for Maritime Safety Policy Bureau at the Headquarters of the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM). He led the South Korean delegation to the IMO Assembly in 2009.

In March 2011, Lim was appointed Commissioner of the Korean Maritime Safety Tribunal (KMST). In July 2012, he assumed the position of President of Busan Port Authority.