Korean lawyer elected as new ICC judge

Paek Kee-bong, a lawyer at Kim & Chang, interviews with reporters at Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations, Dec. 6. Yonhap

A Korean lawyer was elected Wednesday as a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the 2024-2033 period, the court's website showed, marking the third time that a Korean national has won a seat at the court.

Paek Kee-bong, a lawyer at Kim & Chang, a Korean law firm, was elected during a session of the Assembly of State Parties at U.N. headquarters in New York. Paek was among six newly elected ICC judges.

Paek graduated from the college of law at Seoul National University in 1987 and from Columbia Law School in 1998. He earned his Ph.D. in international law from Hanyang University in 2008.

He previously worked as a state prosecutor for more than two decades. He also served as a senior prosecutorial and judicial advisor at the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime's regional office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok from 2011-2014.

Currently, Chung Chang-ho of Korea sits on the ICC bench with his nine-year term set to end in March next year. Song Sang-hyun, another Korean national, served as an ICC judge from 2003-2015. From 2009-2015, Song also worked as the court president.

Headquartered at The Hague, the ICC investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with grave crimes of concern to the international community — genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression, according to its website.

The court has a total of 18 judges who are elected by the Assembly of State Parties for a nine-year, nonrenewable term. The judges elect, from among themselves, the ICC president and two vice presidents.

It has 123 state parties, including Korea, Japan, Britain, France, Germany and Italy. (Yonhap)