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| Newly appointed KOICA President Sohn Hyuk-sang speaks during his inaugural ceremony at its headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. / Courtesy of KOICA |
By Kang Seung-woo
Sohn Hyuk-sang, a former vice president for external cooperation at Kyung Hee University, has been sworn in as the president of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), promising to guide the organization to become a leading global aid agency.
He is highly regarded as an expert in international development cooperation having been involved in the field for over 20 years as a scholar, as well as a member of government organizations, international bodies and civic groups.
The state-run overseas aid agency held an inaugural ceremony for the new president, Tuesday.
Taking office, Sohn, KOICA's 13th president, vowed to help his organization take another leap forward as an international cooperation organization on the occasion of its 30th anniversary next year.
To this end, 58-year-old Sohn outlined six strategies that included intensifying programs related to public healthcare and climate change and pursuing development cooperation programs via an integrated approach.
"We will continue to focus on building a strong performance in education, rural development and public administration, which KOICA has traditionally highlighted," Sohn said. "In particular, we will aggressively expand our programs that have to do with COVID-19 responses and global environment."
He also stressed the need to link development cooperation to the Moon Jae-in administration's policies such as the New Southern Policy, the Korean New Deal and the recently launched carbon-neutral campaign in order to reap policy benefits.
Sohn, who majored in politics at Seoul National University, worked as a professor of the Graduate School of Public Governance and Civic Engagement at Kyung Hee University, while serving as the school's director of its Center for International Development Cooperation.
Outside his academic engagements, Sohn was a non-standing board director of KOICA and Official Development Assistance (ODA) policy adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The new KOICA chief also served as a civilian member of the Office for Government Policy Coordination's Working Committee for International Development Cooperation and was a member of the Committee for International Development Cooperation of the Prime Minister's Office.
