Korea's ICAO Council Membership

MOCT Minister Lee asks for support of ICAO member countries for Korea's reelection to world aviation body

The 2nd Conference on International Air Transport Cooperation took place for two days from May 10 at JW Marriott Hotel in downtown Seoul hosted by the Ministry of Construction and Transportation and the Korea Transport Institute.
Attending the meeting included the secretary-general of the International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO), representatives of ICAO member countries, Transportation Ministers from Mongolia, Egypt, Algeria, and Hungary, among others, along with ambassadors of each ICAO countries, representatives of aviation companies from 27 countries - altogether 340.
MOCT Minister Lee Yong-sup called on the ICAO member countries represented at the gathering to give their support to Korea's candidacy to continue to be the ICAO Council Member State.
He said Korea will be a candidate for the ICAO Council when the ICAO Assembly convenes its 36th annual general conference in September. He would like to ask for the support of ICAO Council State members and representatives of international aviation organizations in reelecting Korea as a member of the ICAO Council. For the minister's call for help, about 200 participants related to the ICAO showed positive reactions including Cherif Taieb, secretary-general of the ICAO, who was present at the meeting. The participants also included Transportation Ministers from Gabon, Mongolia, Russia and Saudi Arabia, all council member countries of the ICAO and ambassadors of ICAO member countries assigned to Seoul.
MOCT Minister Lee said Korea has been pursuing policies for free aviation steadily and from 1998 and until 2005, as a result, the Korean aviation industry saw its number of passengers rising 11.2 percent on annual average and international cargo 8.6 percent in the last several years. Based on the records, Korea ranked the 13th in the number of air passengers and the 8th in the cargo figures and 8th overall in the world, which is good enough to be reelected to the ICAO board.
Korea signed a bilateral aviation treaty with 85 countries and at the present time Korea's two airlines are among the 62 airlines that serve 41 countries including Korea and 133 major cities around the world, spurring human and cargo traffics around the world, not to speak about the economic development, the minister said.
The conference on international air transport cooperation devoted its time creating measures to further liberalize the aviation, air safety and support measures, and strengthening international cooperation on aviation.
Those in attendance at meeting heard from such world-renowned aviation experts as Carl Strombom, director of the U.S. Federal Aviation Bureau, Belai, director in charge of security at the ICAO, professor Uhm Tae-hoon of Columbia University, and Professor Yamaguchi of Tokyo University, altogether 14 aviation experts conducted presentations during the meeting.
ICAO Secretary-General Taieb stressed that the liberalization of aviation pursued by Korea over the past several years is entirely in agreement with the current trends in world aviation, predicting that Korea will play an increasingly important role in the ICAO organizations as it led the movement for the Asia-Pacific region aviation liberalization.
In the meantime, the MOCT said it has concluded two letters of understanding with the ICAO, one for technology and the other for education. Director-General of the Air Safety Bureau Chung Sang-ho signed the instrument for Korea and Chief Taieb, ICAO secretary general, for ICAO.
The Management Service Agreement will facilitate the training of Korean aviation experts by ICAO professionals and the Record of Discussion provides for the details of the technology cooperation agreement
Sec.-Gen. Taieb, for the first time, visited the MOCT and discussed the aviation safety at the Aviation Safety Bureau, praising Korean airlines'record for going without major aviation accidents continuously for 8 years. The safety record is likely to boost the international trust in Korea's aviation industry.
The MOCT will standardize the SMIS that Korea has developed and being sent to 24 countries with ICAO system for its global use. The MOCT plans to speed up its cooperation with ICAO in many areas to raise the Korea position in the international aviation industry. nw

(Photos from above) MOCT Minister Lee Yong-sup delivers the opening speech at the 2nd Conference on International Air Transport Cooperation on May 10-11 in Seoul.
MOCT Minister Lee shakes hands with Cherif Taieb, secretary-general of the International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO) after signing two Letters of Understanding for Technical Cooperation with ICAO.