Statistics Korea chief named UN stats body's vice chair
Statistics Korea Commissioner Han Hoon speaks during the opening day of the 54th session of the U.N. Statistical Commission in New York, Feb. 28. The commission, the U.N.'s top stats body, elected Han as vice chair for a maximum two-year term. Courtesy of Statistics Korea
By Yi Whan-woo
Han Hoon, the chief of the Korean government's statistics agency, has been appointed as the second-highest-ranking official of the United Nations' top decision-making body on international statistics activities.
Statistics Korea announced on Thursday that the Statistics Korea commissioner has been elected as vice chair of the U.N. Statistical Commission during its 54th session currently taking place in New York.
The session is running from Feb. 28 to March 3, with the participation of its 24 rotating members including Korea, and other U.N. member states.
The U.N. commission is responsible for the setting of statistical standards and the development of concepts and methods, including their implementation at the national and international levels.
It is a functional commission of the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Han's term is for up to two years. He will be a part of the commission's five-member panel chaired by Gabriella Vukovich, who concurrently heads Hungary's central statistics agency. The panel also includes three vice chairs and a rapporteur.
“Han has been attending the 54th session of the U.N. Statistical Commission as the representative of Korea, and his appointment as the commission's second-in-command indeed consolidates Korea's reputation as an advanced country in the field of international statistics,” Statistics Korea noted in a press release. “His appointment reflects Korea's leading role in administrative data, big data and other issues that top the agenda on international statistics.”
In a message carried by Statistics Korea, Han said, “I, as the vice chair, will make a full-fledged effort for the world to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals.”
He added, “I will also share Korea's advanced statistical know-how with other countries and actively contribute to the international statistical community that strives to cope with the era of data innovation.”
Statistics Korea Commissioner Han Hoon, left, poses with U.N. Statistical Commission Chair Gabriella Vukovich, center, and other members of the commission's top panel after he was elected as its vice chair during its 54th session in New York, March 1. Courtesy of Statistics Korea
Han, a career financial bureaucrat in his mid-50s, has been leading Statistics Korea since May 2022. He was previously deputy minister of economy and finance.
He passed the national civil service entrance exam for higher positions in November 1991. He climbed the ladder at the finance ministry, building expertise in budget coordination, policy coordination, innovative growth, job planning and other areas.
He has two overseas experiences at the ministry. He was seconded to the World Bank from August 2007 to March 2010 and was the councilor of the Embassy of Korea in Japan from August 2013 to August 2016.
Han earned his bachelor's degree in business administration and his master's in public administration, both at Seoul National University, and a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Washington.
This week's U.N. Statistical Commission is being held in a face-to-face format for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Han has shared his thoughts and exercised his voting right as a country head on 19 agendas.
Among the 19 are sustainable development goals, international statistical classifications, statistical capacity development, integration of statistical and geospatial information, crime and criminal justice statistics, disaster-related statistics, and modernization of statistical systems.
On the sidelines of the session, Han met chiefs of other international organizations' statistical bodies, including the OECD and the European Union.