During a recent layover is Seoul, ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu welcomed an invitation for a discussion with civil aviation government and industry officials from the Republic of Korea.
Mr. Hoon-taik Suh, the Republic of Korea’s Deputy Minister for Civil Aviation in its Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Won-taik Cho, CEO of Korean Air, Dr. IL-Young Chung, President & CEO of Incheon International Airport, and Mr. Sung-Tae Kim of the Congress of the Republic of Korea, discussed a range of issues with President Aliu relating to current ICAO priorities for aviation safety, security, capacity and efficiency, as well as the economic and environmental sustainability of local and global operations.
Also discussed were system-wide aviation infrastructure and airport development concerns, and ICAO’s continuing support and assistance for its Member States’ under the ongoing No Country Left Behind initiative. Korea’s important contributions to aviation training and the future skilled personnel needed for the Asia-Pacific – the world’s largest commercial air transport market – were highlighted by president Aliu, and further priorities relating to ICAO’s work in enhancing passenger and freight security and facilitation and the important roles for governments and airports in that collaboration.
The stopover also included a Technical visit to Incheon Airport’s new Terminal 2, and provided further opportunity to reviews ICAO’s ongoing Task Force work on Obstacle Limitation Surfaces (OLS). The officials discussed the newly emerging concept of “airport cities”, and ICAO and Korea’s cooperation regarding their respective aviation museums.
