Kim Jong-hoon (, born 5 May 1952) is a South Korean diplomat and politician who served as a parliamentarian and Director of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
He played a major role in the
South Korea–United States Free Trade Agreement.
Biography
Born in
Daegu
Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea.
It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...
, he entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1974. He worked for Korean embassies in
France, Upper Volta (now
Burkina Faso),
Canada, and the
United States. He then served as the Korean representative to internation organizations in
Geneva, such as the
WTO.
During the presidency of
Roh Moo-hyun, he began working on FTA negotiations between South Korea and the United States. Partly due to his efforts, the negotiations came through, forming the
South Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement. After the negotiations, he served as chairman of
UNESCAP in 2008 and 2010.
In 2012, he won a parliamentary race in the
Seoul Gangnam
Gangnam or Kangnam may refer to:
Places
Stations
Other uses
* Kangnam (singer) (born 1987), a member of the South Korean hip hop group M.I.B.
* Kangnam University, a university in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
See also
* "Gangnam Sty ...
B district as a member of the conservative
Saenuri Party
The Liberty Korea Party () was a conservative political party in South Korea that was described variously as right-wing, right-wing populist, or far-right. Until February 2017, it was known as the Saenuri Party (), and before that as the H ...
. He served on several party committees during his four-year term. He lost re-election to his seat in 2016, being defeated by
Jeon Hyun-hee of the
Democratic Party.
References
1952 births
Living people
Yonsei University alumni
Members of the National Assembly (South Korea)
South Korean Buddhists
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