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Staff Reporter
The naming of a former Korean citizen as the ambassador to her biological country was a ``surprise'' to the Honduan Embassy in Seoul.
Kang Young-shin, a 57-year-old Korean native, will be the first Korean emigrant to return as an ambassador.
Incumbent Honduran Ambassador to Korea Rene Francisco Umana Chinchilla told The Korea Times Sunday the news was unexpected.
He said, ``I knew that someone would come to replace me, but I didn't know who it would be,'' he said.
Umana Chinchilla heard the news over the weekend through a Korean media outlet, raising suspicions over a lack of communication between the embassy in Seoul and the new government in Tegucigalpa, the country's capital.
However, the ambassador said it isn't completely out of the ordinary for a diplomat not to be fully informed about his or her successor until the departure date.
Umana Chinchilla said it would take no longer than two months for his replacement to arrive here as soon as her appointment is approved by the Korean government.
Kang emigrated to Honduras in 1977 to follow her late husband, a taekwondo instructor.
She was naturalized in 1987 and is currently the headmistress of the Honduras Korea School. Kang had previously run a private Taekwondo institute with her husband.
Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa, who was sworn in January, was once a student there.
She told a local TV station that President Lobo phoned her two weeks ago to offer her the position.
``It appears that he wants to forge a strong friendship with South Korea through me,'' she said.
She holds both Korean and Honduran passports.
skim@koreatimes.co.kr
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