South Korea was elected Monday to the 48-member council of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for the seventh time.

South Korea was elected from the Australasia region along with China, Japan, Indonesia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand, India and Pakistan.

The council is tasked with policymaking to ensure that the ITU keeps up with the world's rapidly changing telecommunication environment and deciding on administrative issues of the organization.

Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, Costa Rica, the United States, Canada, Paraguay and Venezuela were named as the next council members from the North America and Latin America region.

Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, Germany, Spain, France, Greece and Lithuania were also elected, as were Poland, Bulgaria, Russia, Romania and Azerbaijan. 

Africa elected 13 members -- Mali, Ghana, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Nigeria and Algeria.

The ITU also chose 12 new members of the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) that handles frequency assignments.

The new members include Ricardo Luis Teran from Argentina, Joanne Wilson from the U.S., Alfredo Magenta from Italy, Lilian Jeanty from the Netherlands, Victor Strelets of Russia and Ievgen Khairov from Ukraine.

The other electees were Stanley Kibe from Kenya, Simon Koffi from the Ivory Coast, Mustapha Bessi from Morocco, Ito Yasuhiko from Japan, R.J.S. Kushvaha from India and Nasser Bin Hammad from the UAE.

"The Union is strong. And given the number of candidates for these elections, it shows there is still interest for this union,"

ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Tore said.  "I will be leaving this organization at the end of this year, leaving a strong organization, an organization we can all be proud of."

South Korea's ICT ministry said that the re-elected will provide the country with an opportunity to strengthen its industrial comeptitiveness and participation in debates on major ICT-related issues.

South Korea is currently hosting the 19th ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, referred to as the PP-14, in the port city of Busan until Nov. 7.

The ITU is an information and communications arm of the United Nations that sets technological standards, allocates radio frequencies and satellite orbits, and works to improve the quality of communications services. (Yonhap)