South Korea Makes First-Ever Bid for ICJ Judge Seat

South Korea is making its first-ever run at a judgeship on the International Court of Justice, or ICJ. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 26th that it has put forward Paik Jin-hyun, a former president of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), as its candidate. Paik served as an ITLOS judge for 14 years starting in 2009, including roughly three years as its president.

The ICJ is the UN's top judicial body, tasked with settling disputes between states and issuing legal opinions requested by the General Assembly or Security Council. That's distinct from ITLOS, which handles maritime law disputes, or the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes individuals for war crimes and genocide. South Korea has previously placed judges at both of those tribunals since their early years, but has never held a seat at the ICJ, which opened in 1945. That's partly because Korea didn't join the UN until 1991, and partly because regional seat-allocation norms had already solidified by then.

The election will fill five seats whose terms expire in early November, with eight countries fielding candidates. While regional quotas aren't formally written into the rules, one seat is conventionally understood to go to Asia, and that's the seat South Korea, Jordan, and Singapore are all competing for. It has historically gone to candidates from South Asia, the Middle East, or Southeast Asia.

The competition is stiff. Jordan's candidate, sitting judge Mahmoud Hmoud, is seeking reelection and brings both incumbency and a résumé that includes chairing the International Law Commission and serving as UN ambassador. Singapore has nominated Rena Lee, its ambassador for international law, who spent about five years leading negotiations on marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction and built international visibility in the process. Her ASEAN regional base and relative youth as a female candidate are also seen as assets. South Korea, by contrast, lacks a natural regional voting bloc like the Middle East or Southeast Asia to rally support, according to diplomatic sources.

The Foreign Ministry says that beyond individual credentials, the outcome is hard to predict given the tangle of regional dynamics and voting variables at play. Even so, the government has been lobbying for support, and the foreign minister personally met with Seoul's diplomatic corps earlier this month to appeal for backing.