Seoul National University(SNU) honorary professor Paik Jin-hyun will run for a seat on the International Court of Justice(ICJ), becoming the first South Korean to do so. 

According to the foreign ministry on Thursday, Paik, who previously served as president of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, came forward as a candidate for the ICJ elections, which will take place at the end of next year. 

Paik taught international law at the foreign ministry’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security and at SNU’s Graduate School of International Studies. 

At the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, he served as a judge between 2009 and 2023 and as president between 2017 and 2020. 

Established in 1945 based on the UN Charter, the ICJ, also called the World Court, is a permanent international court located in The Hague, Netherlands, consisting of 15 judges elected by the UN General Assembly and Security Council for a nine-year term.

The ICJ holds elections every three years to replace five judges whose terms have ended.