Seoul National University professor Lee Keun-gwan has been elected a member of the International Law Commission(ILC) in a vote held at UN headquarters in New York on Friday.

According to Seoul's permanent mission to the United Nations, eleven candidates vied for eight vacancies in the Asia-Pacific regional group and Lee won with votes from 140 out of 193 countries.

He is the third South Korean ILC member to date and his five-year term begins on January 1, 2023.

The commission was established in 1947 by the UN General Assembly with the aim to develop and systematize international law. 

It has since proposed drafts on a number of key global conventions including the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.