Choi Appointed Ambassador to 11 Countries... Special Envoys Including Kim Dae-gi Excluded

Choi Sang-mok, Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister as well as Minister of Strategy and Finance, carried out personnel appointments for heads of overseas diplomatic missions on the 31st. These appointments, initially planned for the latter half of last year but postponed due to the political turmoil caused by the December 3 emergency martial law incident, have finally resumed.

Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, who is also the Minister of Economy and Finance, presented his credentials to Ambassador Kim Jun-gu to Italy at the Government Seoul Office on January 31, 2025. Photo by the Presidential Office Press Photographers Group, Yonhap News Agency

On the day, Acting President Choi presented letters of credence to 11 newly appointed heads of overseas missions, including Lee Ho-yeol (54), who was appointed as the inaugural ambassador to Cuba and previously served as Minister at the Embassy in Mexico. Lee has held positions such as Minister at the Embassy in Iraq, Minister at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and Director of the Multilateral Economic Organizations Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is reported that he spent part of his school years in Latin America, making him proficient in local languages including English and Spanish.

For other newly established missions, Bae Il-young (56), former Director of Information Management Planning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was appointed ambassador to Slovenia, and Kim Hyun-doo (55), Minister-Counselor at the Embassy in the Philippines, was appointed ambassador to Georgia. Ambassador Bae joined the service in 1991 and has mainly built his career in information-related departments such as Foreign Communications Officer and Director of Information Management Planning.

Park Ki-chang (57), Minister at the Embassy in Russia, was appointed ambassador to Ukraine. Ambassador Park earned his master's and doctoral degrees in Russia and served as Director of the Eurasia Division, earning a reputation as a 'Russia expert.'

Additionally, Kim Hyung-tae, Ambassador to Ukraine, was appointed ambassador to Serbia; Kim Jun-gu, Political Minister-Counselor at the Embassy in the United States, was appointed ambassador to Italy; Kim Jong-han, Head of the Indo-Pacific Research Division at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, was appointed ambassador to Latvia; Kim Dong-bae, Director of the ASEAN Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was appointed ambassador to Bulgaria; Kwak Tae-yeol, International Relations Ambassador of Chungcheongbuk-do Province, was appointed ambassador to El Salvador; Kang Hyung-sik, former Consul General in Milan, was appointed ambassador to Kenya; and Han Byung-jin, Career Professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, was appointed ambassador to Panama.

Meanwhile, special envoys were not included in this round of appointments, which resumed after a long hiatus. Previously, President Yoon Suk-yeol had nominated former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Dae-gi as ambassador to China and former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Moon Sung-kyu as ambassador to Indonesia, but they were not included in this list. Analysts suggest this is related to the fact that President Yoon is currently undergoing an impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said, "The ambassador to China is the most important and politically significant position among the Ministry's heads of missions," adding, "A more thorough review will be conducted before a decision is made." The official also noted, "The Deputy Political Minister is already sufficiently senior, so there should be no issues in Korea-China relations." The previous ambassador to China, Jung Dae-ho, returned to Korea on the day to conclude his term, and the Political Minister-Counselor will serve as charg? d'affaires for the time being.

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