Dr Kidong Park

Dr Kidong Park assumed the role of the Director of Division of Data, Strategy and Innovation (DSI) at the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Western Pacific on 1 May 2022.

Dr Park has extensive experience in global health, health policy and management, and strategic planning and evaluation. His international career in public health spans from high level representative roles to technical work on communicable disease control and health system strengthening.

Dr Park first joined WHO in 2006 working with the Global Influenza Programme at WHO headquarters. After three years in Geneva, Dr Park moved to the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific based on Manila, Philippine. As the head of the Country Support Unit (CSU), he led the development and implementation of a new regional approach to WHO country cooperation strategies (CCS), the Organization's medium-term strategic vision for its cooperation with Member States. He also played a key role in coordinating and implementing WHO reform initiatives in the Region. In June 2015, he joined and coordinated WHO-Republic of Korea joint mission on Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Dr Park served WHO Representative in VietNam from September 2017 till April 2022. 

Before joining WHO, Dr Park served his home country, the Republic of Korea, as a government official for more than 12 years. He held management positions namely as the Director of the Communicable Disease Control Division at the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (KCDC), and with the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) as the Deputy Director of Non-Communicable Disease Control at the Disease Policy Division and the Deputy Director of Medical Insurance Physician Fee Schedule at the Medical Insurance Benefit Programme Division.

Before joining the Government, Dr Park participated in a WHO-funded District Health System demonstration project in Yonchon County, Republic of Korea from 1988 to 1991.

Born in the city of Gyeongju, Republic of Korea on 23 October 1963, Dr Park is a medical doctor and holds a master’s and PhD degree in Health Policy and Medicine from Seoul National University College of Medicine. He is married with two daughters.