Seoul appoints new top envoys to Washington and Tokyo ahead of key summits

Former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has been tapped as South Korea’s next ambassador to the United States and veteran diplomat Lee Hyuk as its new ambassador to Japan.

According President Lee Jae Myung's office on Tuesday, the administration formally requested consent from Washington and Tokyo for their appointments. If finalized, this will end a two-month vacancy for the ambassadorial posts. South Korea is set to hold summits with both the U.S. and Japan later this month.

A veteran diplomat, Kang, 70, was foreign minister during the Moon Jae-in administration from 2017 until 2021, overlapping with U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term. Officials noted that her experience with Trump’s brand of diplomacy weighed in her favor.

One of her key tasks during the term was to garner international support for South Korea’s initiatives to engage with North Korea, seeking lasting peace and complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Before her term as foreign minister, Kang worked as an English interpreter for former President Kim Dae-jung and as a director-general at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She has also held prominent positions on the international stage under U.N. Secretaries-General Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon and Antonio Guterres.

During the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration, Kang was at the forefront of criticism of his martial law declaration late last year, appearing in interviews with foreign media outlets such as CNN.

“During her tenure as a foreign minister, Kang played a role in public diplomacy. However, she was not someone who led the discourse in military or security issues,” an international relations expert, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Korea Times. “It is expected that those areas will continue to be handled by experts at the National Security Office, while Kang will focus on public diplomacy and acting as the government’s spokesperson, as it seems there is a perceived need for public diplomacy to play a greater role, with many pro-MAGA figures and influencers critical of the Lee administration in Washington.”

Lee Hyuk, 67, is a career diplomat who served as South Korea’s ambassador to Vietnam for three years starting in April 2018 and to the Philippines between September 2012 and April 2015. Since July 2023, he has served as the chief of the Korea-Japan Forum for the Future, a group promoting exchanges between the two countries.

A known proponent of improved Seoul-Tokyo ties, Lee has long advocated for a pragmatic and future-oriented relationship with Japan. His appointment comes as the Lee administration pushes to revitalize diplomacy with allies and key partners in the region.

On Tuesday, Korea's president met with visiting U.S. senators Tammy Duckworth and Andy Kim, expressing hopes for progress in cooperation with Trump.

A day earlier, the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, an annual large-scale joint military training operation between South Korea and the U.S. kicked off. As he was presiding over a National Security Council meeting, Lee said, “While the best outcome is peace accomplished without fighting, we must also be prepared for the worst-case scenario.”

Lee also instructed officials to prepare “phased implementation of feasible parts of existing inter-Korean agreements,” including the restoration of the Sept. 19 Comprehensive Military Agreement, signed in 2018.

Lee will travel to Tokyo on Saturday for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, restoring bilateral diplomacy between the two nations. Two days later, Lee is scheduled to meet with Trump for the first Seoul-Washington summit of his administration.