"New Ambassador to Korea: Koichi Mizushima Appointed as Ambassador to Israel"

Japanese Media Reports Citing Government Officials

It was reported by Kyodo News and others on the 11th that Koichi Mizushima, the current Ambassador of Japan to Israel, is likely to be appointed as the new Ambassador of Japan to South Korea.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the report, the Japanese government recently designated Ambassador Mizushima as the successor to Koichi Aiboshi, the current Ambassador of Japan to South Korea, and requested agr?ment (the host country's consent to dispatch a diplomatic envoy) from the South Korean government this month. Once Ambassador Mizushima receives agr?ment from the South Korean government, he will be appointed to South Korea after a Cabinet decision.

Born in 1961 and hailing from Kyoto, Ambassador Mizushima graduated from the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Law and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1985, beginning his career as a career diplomat. He has served as Minister-Counselor at the Embassy in the United States, Director of the North American Affairs Division 2, and worked as Minister at the Embassy of Japan in South Korea. Subsequently, he served as Director of the Consular Affairs Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has been the Ambassador to Israel since 2021.

Kyodo News noted, "The Japan-South Korea relationship, which had cooled due to the forced labor compensation lawsuits, has improved since the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration," adding, "The Japanese government seems to have judged that Ambassador Mizushima, who has experience in South Korean diplomacy, is the right person, as there is a possibility of instability in Japan-South Korea relations depending on the results of South Korea's general election in April this year."

Current Ambassador to South Korea Koichi Aiboshi took office in January 2021 and has completed the usual three-year term for ambassadorial rotation in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so there had been speculation in diplomatic circles since the latter half of last year about a possible replacement.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.