Young Tae Kim
Secretary-General, International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD
Young Tae Kim is the Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD. Elected by transport ministers of the ITF member countries in 2017, he was confirmed for a second five-year mandate in 2022. Under the leadership of Secretary-General Kim, the ITF has grown from 59 to 72 member countries and into a truly global organisation with a presence on five continents. He has strengthened the ITF’s role as a convener of transport policy leaders and global platform for dialogue for better transport, inter alia by establishing regional high-level dialogues on transport for Asia, Latin America and in Europe, that complement the ITF Summit, the world’s premier transport policy event and largest gathering of transport ministers.
Before becoming ITF Secretary-General, Young Tae Kim distinguished himself in the civil service of his native Korea, serving as director general in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT). As deputy director general from 2015, he was responsible for coordinating various transport policies including for autonomous vehicles, greenhouse gas reduction, urban transport, intelligent transport systems and road safety, among others.
He also held several deputy director and director positions with responsibility for housing welfare, integrated city development and overseas infrastructure construction. He was seconded to the prime minister's Commission on Administrative Reform in 1996 and the Presidential Committee on Social Inclusion in 2005-2007. From 2010 to 2014, Young Tae Kim worked at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., as counsellor for Construction, Transport and Maritime Affairs.
Young Tae Kim earned a master's degree in public policy from Seoul National University, Korea, and a master’s degree in urban studies from Paris Université de Vincennes-Saint-Denis, France. He also received his doctoral degree in political sociology and public policy from the Institut d'Études Politiques (Sciences-Po) in Paris, France.
He speaks fluent English and French, and some Spanish, in addition to his native Korean.
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