South Korea will remain a board member of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for the seventh consecutive time, holding four more years in office beginning January 2015.
 
In an Asian-region election at the ITU's Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan on Monday, South Korea earned the second largest number of votes after China to grab one of the 13 seats allocated to Asia.
 
South Korea became an ITU member in 1952 during the Korean War. Since becoming a board member in 1989, it has kept its seat in seven consecutive elections.
 
The board, composed of 48 countries, monitors and approves the budget of the ITU's executive branch led by the secretary-general.
 
An official with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said the election signifies the strength of South Korea as a global powerhouse in information and communications technology. The official also noted the election of Professor Lee Chae-sub of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology as director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau of the ITU.