Kim Jong Yang is elected Interpol president
1,217 views · Published 26 November 2018 · 2:41 · Indexed 24 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(21 Nov 2018) Interpol elected a South Korean as the organisation's president on Wednesday, edging out a veteran of Russia's security services who was strongly opposed by the United States, Britain and other European nations. Kim Jong Yang's surprise election was seen as a victory for the White House and its European partners, who had lobbied up until the final hours before the vote against Alexander Prokopchuk's bid to be named the policing organisation's next president. The US and others expressed concern that if Russia's candidate had been elected, that would have led to further Kremlin abuses of Interpol's red notice system to go after political opponents and fugitive dissidents. Addressing delegates in Dubai after the vote, Kim said he was honoured to take over the role, adding he looked forward to next year's Interpol General Assembly session in Chile. Groups campaigning to clean up Interpol celebrated Kim's win, as did Seoul. South Korea's police and Foreign Ministry issued a joint statement saying Kim's election was a "national triumph" that could elevate the country's international standing. Kim's win also means he secured at least two-thirds of votes cast at Interpol's general assembly in Dubai on Wednesday. Interpol does not release how member states voted or how many votes Kim received. He will serve until 2020, completing the four-year mandate of his predecessor, Meng Hongwei, who was detained in China as part of a wide anti-corruption sweep there. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/78ff99e0da1c8d094551c4f5e54be8bf
