Chung Eui-yong (; born 14 April 1946) is a South Korean diplomat and a politician served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

from 2021 to 2022. Chung was previously President

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (; ; born 24 January 1953) is a South Korean former politician, civil servant and lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea between 2017 and 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs an ...

's first Director of National Security from 2017 to 2020.

Career

A 1968 graduate of Seoul National University, Chung joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1971. He subsequently served as Korean Ambassador to Israel (1997–1998), Deputy Minister for Trade (1998–2001), and as Korean Ambassador to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN Secretariat and International Organizations in Geneva (2001–2004). He was returned to the 17th

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

in the 2004 elections as a proportional representative for the

Uri Party The Yeollin Uri Party (), generally abbreviated to Uri Party (), was the ruling political party in South Korea from 2003–2007. It had a liberal political ideology in order to support then President Roh Moo-hyun. Chung Sye Kyun was the last le ...

. In the National Assembly, he was a member of the Special Committee on

United States–Korea Free Trade Agreement The United States–Korea Free Trade Agreement (officially: Free Trade Agreement Between the United States of America and the Republic of Korea), also known as KORUS FTA, is a trade agreement between the United States and South Korea. Negotiatio ...

. He then became Secretary-General of the

International Conference of Asian Political Parties The International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) is a forum of political parties of Asia-Oceanian countries, which was launched in Manila, Philippines in September 2000. The objectives of the conference are to promote exchanges an ...

. On 20 May 2017, newly-inaugurated president

appointed him as the ministerial-level Director of the National Security Office. In July 2020, Chung was replaced by Suh Hoon and reshuffled to President Moon's Special Advisor on Foreign Affairs, Diplomacy and National Security. In January 2021, he replaced Kang Kyung-hwa as the new South Korean Foreign Minister.

Political activity

In March 2018, as South Korea's Special Envoy to North Korea, Chung Eui-yong visited

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

to discuss the required steps to denuclearise North Korea. He then flew to the United States for a meeting with President Donald Trump and to announce the Trump-Kim summit. On November 4, 2019, at a waiting room on the sidelines of the ASEAN Plus 3 (Japan, China, and South Korea) summit held near

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

, when Japanese Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 20 ...

talked with South Korean President

for 11 minute, Chung Eui-yong took photos, and they were published without the approval of the Japanese side. Chung had been in charge of bilateral intelligence-sharing agreement, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), with Japan.

References

, - 1946 births Living people Seoul National University alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Ambassadors of South Korea to Israel Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) Uri Party politicians Experts on North Korea South Korean diplomats Government ministers of South Korea Minjoo Party of Korea politicians Foreign ministers of South Korea {{SouthKorea-politician-stub

Career

Political activity

See also

References