A South Korean judge has taken up a post as a justice of the International Criminal Court (ICC), vowing to do his best for justice in the court, South Korea's top court said Wednesday.

Chung Chang-ho, a senior judge of South Korea's Gwangju District Court, began his nine-year term in the post at the court in The Hague on Tuesday, the Supreme Court said.

"I'll do my best to realize international criminal justice as a judge representing South Korea and its judicial branch," the 48-year-old was quoted as saying by the court. "I'll contribute to the development of the ICC through independent, efficient and transparent trials."

Established in 2002, the ICC is an international tribunal that is designed to promote world peace and protect human rights. Its jurisdiction covers genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression.

Chung is the youngest of the court's 18 judges.

He served as a judge in South Korea after passing the bar exam in 1990. Since August 2011, he has assumed the post of a judge at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, a special court set up to try those responsible for the Cambodian genocide.

He was elected as an ICC justice in December, making South Korea the only country to have two judges at the court. Song Sang-hyun quit as an ICC judge on Tuesday after serving for 12 years, while he had doubled as the ICC president since 2009. (Yonhap)