Han Seung-soo (born 28 December 1936) is a South Korean

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. He served as

Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea The prime minister of the Republic of Korea (PMOTROK or PMOSK; ) is the deputy head of government and the second highest political office of South Korea who is appointed by the President of the Republic of Korea, with the National Assembly's app ...

from 29 February 2008 to 28 September 2009. He was the

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

's Special Envoy on Climate Change (2007–08) and for Disaster Risk Reduction and Water (2013–18), Special Advisor to the UN/World Bank High-Level Panel on Water (2016–18), Member of the UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on

Water and Sanitation Agency The Water And Sanitation Agency (WASA) ( ur, ) is a Governmental body responsible for planning, designing, development and maintenance, repair and operations of water supply and sewerage and draining system, as well as collection of Aquifer Wa ...

(UNSGAB, 2007–15), Member of the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel for Global Sustainability (GSP, 2010–12), Founding Chair of Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI, 2010–12), Temasek International Panel Member (2004–18) and Independent Non-Executive Director of Standard Chartered plc (2010-2019). He was the President of the 56th Session of the

General Assembly of the United Nations The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

(2001–02), South Korea's

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 cou ...

(2001–02),

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

(1996–97),

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

to the President

Kim Young-sam Kim Young-sam (; or ; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015) was a Demographics of South Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998. From 1961, he spent almost 30 year ...

(1994–95), South Korean Ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

(1993–94) and Minister of Trade and Industry (1988–90). He was a three-term Member of National Assembly of the Republic of Korea (1988-1992, 1996-2004) directly elected by the people of his hometown, Chuncheon city, Gangwon-do Province.

Education

Han was educated at

Yonsei University Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the "SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in the ...

( BA, 1960),

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

(MPA, 1963), and

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

, England (Ph.D., 1968 /D.Univ., 1997). Prior to his entry into politics in 1988, he had a distinguished academic career as Professor of Economics at Seoul National University (1970–88), taught

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and/or did research at the Universities of York (1965–68), Cambridge (Emmanuel College, 1968–70), Harvard (1985–86), Tokyo (1986–87), and GRIPS (2004–06). He has honorary degrees from the Universities of York, Gangwon National, Yonsei, KAIST and Kuala Lumpur.

Political and diplomatic career

Han is currently, among others, Chair of High-Level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP, 2007-), Host of the Biennial UN Special Thematic Session on Water and Disasters (2013-), Chair of the Water Advisory Group of Asia Development Bank (2014-), Vice President of Club de Madrid, Member of the WMO Water and Climate Leaders Panel, and Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation International Advisory Board Member, Vice-Chair of Zayed Sustainability Prize Jury, Co-Chair of International Finance Forum (China), Chair of the Jury for IFF Global Green Finance Award, Distinguished Professor at Zhejiang University International Business School, Chief International Advisor of International Monetary Institute (IMI) of Renmin University of China, Senior Advisor to Research Institute of ASEAN Economy (Shaoxing, China), and Founder of GG56 Ltd., a big data and blockchain startup. He was also Chairman of the 2014 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games bid Committee. His major international achievements include being one of the initiators of the APEC in 1989 as Minister of Trade and Industry, Korea's accession to the OECD in 1996 when he was the chief minister in charge of negotiations as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the global crisis management in the aftermath of 9/11 as President of the 56th Session of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

(the day to be elected was 11 September 2001) when he was Foreign Minister, and the passage of the unanimous resolution of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting when he was Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea.

Publications

Han has many publications in both Korean and English, the most recent ones being ''Here for Global Good: Collected Speeches of Han Seung-soo'' (YBM, Seoul, 2015) which was translated into Chinese and published by Tsinghua University Press in 2016, ''Beyond the Shadow of 9/11; A Year at the United Nations General Assembly'' (SAIS, Washington DC, 2007).

References

External links

Appearances on C-SPAN
as President of the Assembly, November 10, 2001
video

Prime Minister Han Seung-soo's address to the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly
as representative of the Republic of Korea, 25 September 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Seung-soo 1936 births Living people Seoul National University faculty Permanent Representatives of South Korea to the United Nations South Korean Roman Catholics Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly Yonsei University alumni Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Liberty Korea Party politicians Ambassadors of South Korea to the United States Deputy Prime Ministers of South Korea Finance ministers of South Korea Foreign ministers of South Korea Alumni of the University of York Cheongju Han clan Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) Seoul National University alumni Special Envoys of the Secretary-General of the United Nations

Education

Political and diplomatic career

Publications

See also

References

External links