I should like to thank you most sincerely for giving me the opportunity to meet with you and to talk to you today. Since it was founded in 1945, this institution has played a pivotal role in providing the well-trained and highly-qualified people required to fuel and sustain the phenomenal development of the Republic of Korea as a major shipping and shipbuilding nation in the second half of the 20th century.

More than that, this University has become a centre of excellence, through its teaching and research-orientated faculties, for all facets of the maritime industry, embracing the cutting edge of maritime science and technology and marine information technology as well as the more traditional skills of shipbuilding and engineering - all of which are key elements in the work of IMO, the International Maritime Organization, which is a specialized agency of the United Nations. The Convention by which IMO was founded was adopted in Geneva in 1948 and the Organization actually came into being 10 years later, once the Convention had been ratified by enough Governments to meet its entry into force conditions. Today, IMO has 165 Member States and three Associate Members and a host of inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations also participate actively in its work.

The mission statement of the Organization is Safe, Secure and Efficient Shipping on Clean Oceans and, like all good mission statements, it is a simple enough statement behind which lies a detailed, multi-faceted and sometimes complex structure designed with the sole purpose of achieving those ends. The Republic of Korea plays an active part in supporting our aims and I welcome this opportunity to re-iterate my appreciation of Korea's positive and constructive, high-level contribution to the IMO debate.

Shipping is perhaps the most international of all the world's great industries. The world you are becoming a part of is a truly global one and, as I suggested to the UN Students' Association of the Oxford University three months ago, you may wish to consider in which other sector of human activity can one meet a businessman who has his headquarters in one country (say Greece), draws capital from another country (say Britain), signs a contract for the building of a ship in a third country (say Korea), makes use of the flag of a fourth country (say Panama), charters his ship bareboat to an operator from a fifth country (say Germany), who uses as manager someone else from a sixth country (say Singapore), who, in turn, recruits the crew from a seventh country (say the Philippines) before he starts operating his ship between an eighth country (say Brazil) and a ninth country (say Australia)? The ship may be classed with a classification society in a tenth country (say Norway), insured in an eleventh country (say the United States) and have its accounts managed in a twelfth country (say India).

There is, therefore, an over-arching logic in favour of a framework of international standards to regulate shipping - standards, which can be adopted by all and accepted by all. Clearly there has to be a common approach, so that ships can ply their trade around the world and that countries receiving foreign ships in their ports can be confident that, in accepting them, they do not place their safety, security and environmental integrity at an unreasonable risk.

The first attempts at such a common approach date back to well beyond the formation of IMO. From the mid-19th century onwards, a number of international maritime agreements were adopted. A treaty of 1863, for example, introduced certain common navigational procedures that ships should follow, when encountering each other at sea, so as to avoid collision, and was signed by some 30 countries. And the infamous Titanic disaster of 1912 spawned the first Safety of Life at Sea - or SOLAS - Convention, which, albeit completely modified and updated and nowadays within the responsibility of IMO, is still the most important international instrument addressing maritime safety today.

But it was not until the establishment of IMO that there was a recognized, international body to address such concerns. Since its formation, IMO's main task has been to develop and maintain a comprehensive regulatory framework for international shipping. Its mandate was originally limited to safety-related issues, but subsequently this remit has been expanded to embrace environmental considerations, legal matters, technical co-operation, issues that affect the overall efficiency of shipping - such as how to deal with stowaways or how a cargo manifest should be transmitted to the authorities ashore - piracy and armed robbery against ships and, most recently, maritime security.

The direct output of IMO's regulatory work is a comprehensive body of international conventions, supported by literally hundreds of guidelines and recommendations that, between them, govern just about every facet of the shipping industry - from the drawing board to the scrapyard.

It may not matter a great deal to the man or woman in the street that, for example, new regulations regarding the discharge of sewage from ships will enter into force in August of this year but, as I am sure you can imagine, it has repercussions for the shipping industry, where ships may have to fit new equipment or adopt new procedures in order to comply and, importantly, it will make a real contribution to the protection of the marine environment from which everyone will benefit.

It is impossible to generalize with complete accuracy but, broadly speaking, IMO measures fall into three categories. There are those aimed primarily at the prevention of accidents and environmental damage from ships in the first place. In this group you will find conventions setting standards for ship design, construction, equipment, operation and manning. Then, there is a series of measures which recognize that accidents do happen, despite the best efforts of all concerned and which, therefore, try to mitigate their negative effects. Rules concerning distress and safety communications, the provision of search and rescue services and facilities and oil spill clean-up and response mechanisms, all fall into this category. The final group is concerned with the aftermath of accidents and, in particular, with establishing a mechanism for ensuring that those who suffer the consequences of an accident - and this refers in particular, although not exclusively, to pollution victims - can be adequately compensated.

Although founded as a strictly technical body, there is no doubt that the political and economic dimensions of the Organization's work are becoming increasingly influential and we are adapting and changing accordingly. By comparison with many other UN agencies, IMO is small. We have a staff of around 300 at the London Headquarters, drawn from around 50 different nationalities, and maintain small regional offices in Kenya, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and the Philippines.

The Organization does, however, recognize that not all of its Members have an equal ability to implement the measures agreed at IMO. Some lack resources, some lack expertise, some both. To this end, we have established an extensive technical co-operation programme, in which we try to identify particular needs and match them to offers of help and assistance from those that can provide them. Typically, this might involve arranging training, workshops and seminars on particular subjects at national or regional level. We have also founded three educational establishments in Malmö, Sweden, Malta and Trieste, Italy, specializing in maritime issues, which are designed principally to offer advanced level education in maritime subjects to students from less developed countries.

The Republic of Korea is a keen supporter of IMO's technical co-operation activities and makes regular, substantial donations both financial and in kind - for which we are most grateful.

The list of shipping-related topics that fall under the aegis of IMO is huge. But there are, of course, some things that we are not. The Organization is not, for example, a police force; we do not have the mandate nor the capacity to put teams of inspectors aboard ships and check their compliance with international standards. We are not "operational" in the sense that we follow incidents and accidents at sea, such as groundings, collisions, explosions, etc. on a 24-hour basis - and we are not a court; there is an International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, in Hamburg, which deals with Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) issues.

To understand the real significance of IMO, however, you need first to be aware of the role of international shipping and it is to that I would now wish to turn.

Of all the sectors that make up the global transport infrastructure, shipping probably has the lowest public profile and the least representative public image. Yet, if you look around you, almost everything you see has been touched by shipping in some way. Raw materials, component parts, finished goods, fuel and foodstuffs are all moved around the world by ships. Shipping serves more than 90 per cent of world trade, largely because ships enjoy unrivalled superiority over all other modes of transport when it comes to carrying massive quantities of cargo cost-effectively, cleanly and safely. And it is the international standards developed by IMO to date, and those to be developed in the future to keep pace with technological and operational developments, which underpin the shipping industry's safe, secure and environmentally-friendly performance.

Moreover, the development of shipping and the establishment of a global system of trade have moved forward together, hand-in-hand. The eternal triangle of producers, manufacturers and markets are brought together through ships and the sea. This has always been the case and will remain so for the foreseeable future. It is a fact that, today, we live in a global society which is supported by a global economy - and that economy simply could not function if it were not for ships and the shipping industry.

Perhaps the most significant of all the changes wrought by this process of globalization is the interdependency and inter-connectivity it has fostered between peoples who would previously have considered themselves completely unconnected. The potential benefits are clear: growth can be accelerated and prosperity more widespread; skills and technology can be more evenly dispersed; and both individuals and countries can take advantage of previously unimagined economic opportunities.

But, whilst there are advantages to be gained, there are challenges too that you will be required to face in the years ahead. To my mind, your presence here at one of the maritime world's leading academic institutions, singles you out as individuals with both the potential ability and the desire to make a really constructive impact in meeting those challenges.

As the boundaries between distinctive national cultures become increasingly blurred by globalization, the world may be on the brink of a new era. Perhaps it is time that the traditional systems of governance need to be re-evaluated. In today's world, we surely need to find better mechanisms and institutions for global governance. Such governance must include international organizations such as the United Nations and also regional associations and appropriate participation by civil society.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has already taken a lead in the process of re-assessing the core values and structures that shape the way we live. In the coming September, a world summit will be held at the United Nations headquarters in New York to review progress made in the five years since the Millennium Summit, when an historic Declaration was adopted reaffirming shared values and setting out guidelines for a safer and fairer world in the new century. And I see the forthcoming summit as a unique opportunity and a challenge for the leaders of the world not merely to make observations but as an opportunity to agree on bold decisions that can move the world closer to that shared vision.

In a changing world, there are wonderful opportunities for those who have the motivation and the strength to make a positive contribution, and I feel sure that your time here at the Korea Maritime University will have helped prepare you to play your part; whether you do so, of course, is for you to choose.

If you follow the examples of your alumni, you will soon be leading the further development of maritime Korea in the 21st century, and I am confident that you will take up that mantle with diligence and with ability and that, as a student body, you will go on to play a wide role in the global maritime community in the future.

As I noted earlier, the challenges you will face in the coming years will be many. They will centre on finding ways in which your country can sustain and expand its role in the development of a shipping infrastructure that will succeed in keeping pace with the incessant demands of the international economy whilst maintaining the levels of safety, security and environmental protection that the world is increasingly coming to expect.

These are difficult but noble and worthy targets which are shared by IMO and the international shipping community as a whole. The emphasis that we now place on the human element in all our undertakings serves to highlight the vital role that training, education and personal development will play in our industry in the future, and that is why I am pleased to recognize the contribution of such a highly respected institution as the Korea Maritime University to that future - a future which is yours, one for which I envy you!...

Congratulations for your choice to join the ranks of so many others who serve the world through shipping.

That concludes my presentation, and I should now be pleased to take any questions you may have.

Thank you.