Lee Jong-seok (born May 11, 1958) is a former South Korean

Minister of Unification The Ministry of Unification is an executive department of the South Korean government aimed at promoting Korean reunification. It was first established in 1969 as the ''National Unification Board'', under the rule of Park Chung-hee. It gained its ...

and chairman of the National Security Council, having succeeded

Chung Dong-young Chung Dong-young (born 27 July 1953 in Sunchang County, North Jeolla) is a politician and was the United New Democratic Party nominee for President of South Korea in 2007. From April 2004 until December 2005, Chung was the South Korean Minister ...

on February 10, 2006. His appointment was controversial as certain lawmakers wanted to separate the two posts, while others were troubled by questions raised during his confirmation hearings over his apparent failure to properly brief President

Roh Moo-hyun Roh Moo-hyun (; ; 1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea between 2003 and 2008. Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...

. Prior to his appointment, he had been the council's deputy chief. He was a member of the ruling

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 ...

. A graduate of

Sungkyunkwan University Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU or simply ''Seongdae'', Hangul: 성균관대학교; Hanja: 成均館大學校) is a private comprehensive research university in South Korea. The institution traces its origins to the historic Sungkyunkwan, founde ...

who spent most of his career as an academic, he authored the 2000 book ''"Understanding Contemporary North Korea"''. He is widely seen as an important behind-the-scenes figure in South Korea's neutralist realignment in foreign policy between 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 ...

and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

, working on the

Sunshine Policy The Sunshine Policy () is the theoretical basis for South Korea's foreign policy towards North Korea. Its official title is The Reconciliation and Cooperation Policy Towards the North (), and it is also known as The Operational Policy Towards the ...

and accompanying

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democra ...

to the North Korean summit meeting in 2000. Lee is now a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute in the southern Seoul suburb of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

External links

"Roh Appoints Ministers Over Lawmakers' Objections"
The Chosun Ilbo, February 10, 2006.

The Chosun Ilbo, February 6, 2006.

The Joongang Daily, January 14, 2006. Living people Sungkyunkwan University alumni Government ministers of South Korea 1958 births People from Gyeonggi Province Experts on North Korea {{SouthKorea-politician-stub