On 21 November 2018, Interpol elected South Korean Kim Jong-yang as its new president after member states in Dubai passed over Russian candidate Alexander Prokopchuk, who had been widely expected to win.
The vote came at the annual congress of Interpol’s 194 member states and followed mounting concern that Prokopchuk could use the post to pursue critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He had also been accused of abusing the international police body’s arrest warrant system.
Kim’s selection was made in the wake of the disappearance of Interpol’s former president, Meng Hongwei, who vanished during a trip to China in September. Beijing later confirmed that Meng had been detained and was being investigated for allegedly taking bribes.
Kim will complete the remaining two years of Meng’s term.
