Interpol picks South Korean to lead agency as Russia loses out

Interpol names South Korea’s Kim Jong-yang as its new president, in a blow to Russia which denounced “unprecedented pressure” against its own candidate to lead the global policing body.

There had been growing Western calls for Interpol to reject Alexander Prokopchuk — a Russian interior ministry official and current Interpol vice president — over fears Moscow could abuse the role to target political opponents.

US-backed Kim, Interpol’s acting president, has been picked at a meeting of delegates from member nations in Dubai to replace Meng Hongwei, who went missing in his native China in September.

Beijing later said Meng resigned after being charged with accepting bribes.

The Kremlin has expressed dismay that Prokopchuk, who had been seen as the frontrunner, was beaten.

“The election took place in the atmosphere of unprecedented pressure and interference in these elections,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells reporters.

The meeting was Interpol’s largest to date with 180 member states present, its secretary-general Jurgen Stock says.

Describing the agency as “neutral and independent,” he says a breakdown of the secret ballot would not be made public.

Kim’s election was “democratic, transparent, free and clear,” Stock says at a Dubai press conference.

— AFP