Lee, a vice-chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2008, was yesterday elected by peers from a short-list of six scientists which also included Belgium's Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, Ogunlade Davidson of Sierra Leone and Chris Field of Stanford University.
"I am honoured and grateful that the Panel has elected me as the IPCC's new Chair," Lee, 69, said in a statement issued by the panel, which gathers scientific consensus on climate change and advises government policymakers.
Lee holds a doctorate in economics, and is a professor on the economics of climate change, energy and sustainable development at Korea University's Graduate School of Energy and Environment.
The election took place at an IPCC meeting in Dubrovnik, Croatia.