Kitack Lim

Kitack Lim (Korean: 임기택; born 22 January 1956) is a South Korean maritime official who served as a previous Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization.

Early life Lim was born in Masan, South Gyeongsang Province, a major port city in South Korea. Replacing Koji Sekimizu of Japan, his first four year term commenced on 1 January 2016. One of his first external events as Secretary-General in 2016 was to deliver the keynote speech at an e-Navigation conference onboard the MS Pearl Seaways in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In June 2017, Lim announced the 'Day of the Seafarer' celebrations, with a recorded video message. In September 2017, he made his first visit to Russia as Secretary-General holding discussions at the Russian Ministry of Transport.

In May 2018, he gave an interview on the 70th anniversary of the lMO's foundation and highlighted the three top challenges of the future for the IMO as being climate change, digitization and seafarer issues. In 2018, Lim was re-elected to serve another four year term as Secretary-General from January 2020, concurrent after his first term.

In 2020, Lim highlighted the need to protect seafarers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This included arguing for the need for further recognition and support for seafarers from governments.

In February 2021, he asserted that piracy in the Gulf of Guinea presented a "serious and immediate threat" to crews and vessels operating in West African waters. In October and November 2021, he attended the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. This included giving the closing speech of the related International Chamber of Shipping 'Shaping the Future of Shipping' conference in which he stated that the need for the UN to take urgent action.

In July 2022, Lim visited the Black Sea to see ships and seafarers in the IMO humanitarian corridor, related to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In August 2022, Lim visited the ports of Odesa and Constanta as part of IMO efforts relating to the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

In September 2022, following her death, he paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, who had opened the Headquarters of the IMO in 1983. In November 2022, he paid tribute to the former Secretary-General William A. O'Neil at the IMO, along with the release of a video tribute.

On 1 January 2024, Lim's tenure as Secretary-General ended, with his replacement Arsenio Dominguez taking office.

Personal life In a May 2021 interview, Lim stated he enjoys playing golf to relax, as well walking and watching films. Lim has said that some of his mentors have included Joseph Angelo (an American colleague and IMO delegate), William A. O'Neil and Efthimios Mitropoulos. Lim has stated that his favourite song is Delilah by Tom Jones and that his favourite film is The Father. His favourite book is 'Dynamic Governance' by BS Neo and G Chen.