The Republic of Korea’s Permanent Representative has been elected as the President of the IAEA’s 68th General Conference.
Sang Wook Ham was appointed as the Republic of Korea’s (ROK) Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna in 2022 after an extensive service with the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The General Conference elects a President at the beginning of each annual session, following consultations among Member States before the conference. They hold office for the duration of the conference. Last year the position was held by Thailand’s Vilawan Mangklatanakul.
Ham’s diplomatic career began in 1991 when he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. His diplomatic assignments have included two postings at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, the first in his early career and the second as Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative. He has also been posted to the Republic of Korea’s embassies in Iraq, the United States and Afghanistan, where he led the Korean Provincial Reconstruction Team.
He held several key leadership positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Director of the North Korean Policy Division, Head of the Task Force for the ROK-US Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation, Director-General for Non-proliferation and Nuclear Affairs and Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs, a position which he held from 2020 until his 2022 appointment in Vienna.
Ham has extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy, the United Nations system, nuclear non-proliferation and human rights, and has represented the Republic of Korea at numerous international meetings and conferences. He has served the international community in a variety of capacities, including as Chair of the Missile Technology Control Regime in 2016, and Chair of the ITF (International Trust Fund) for Enhancing Human Security for 2023-24.
In the course of his career, Ham has received several decorations and awards, including a Presidential Citation in 2012 and an Order of Service Merit with Red Stripes in 2015.
Alongside his current role as the Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, Ham also holds bilateral accreditation as the Republic of Korea’s Ambassador to the Republic of Austria and the Republic of Slovenia. Prior to this, he served as Chair of the IAEA Board of Governors in 2022.
Ham holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Seoul National University in the Republic of Korea, and a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University in the United States of America.