Choi Seok-young, former vice trade minister and ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, was elected Thursday as vice chair of the executive committee of the agency’s refuge unit, the Foreign Ministry said.

Choi, a representative of South Korea’s permanent mission to the United Nations in the Swiss city, will serve the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees’ top decision-making body until September. He will then take over as chairman for a one-year term according to custom.

The 87-country committee authorizes the organization’s policy and budget and overlooks personnel and administration. Korea became a member in 2000.

Choi’s election will facilitate cooperation between the Korean government and the Geneva-based refuge agency in protecting North Korean defectors overseas, the ministry said in a statement.

Korea has been finetuning relevant ordinances and regulations in line with the new Refuge Act passed in December at the National Assembly, which will come into effect in July.

By Sang Youn-joo (sangyj@heraldcorp.com)