Korean-American becomes top US envoy on N. Korea denuclearization talks

By Yi Whan-woo

Joseph Yun, a Korean-American who served as the U.S. ambassador to Malaysia, has been named to Washington’s top negotiator for denuclearization talks on North Korea, according to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.

The embassy posted on Twitter this week that Yun is “back in (Washington) D.C.” for his new job after working as the top U.S. envoy in Kuala Lumpur since 2013.

Yun is concurrently serving as the U.S. Department of State’s special representative for North Korea Policy and deputy assistant secretary for Korea and Japan. He succeeded Sung Kim, also a Korean-American who has been appointed as the ambassador to the Philippines.

Yun is scheduled to hold the first meetings this week with Kim Hong-kyun, his South Korean counterpart for the six-party talks aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

Yun, 62, a career diplomat, is considered to be one of the U.S. Department of State’s top Asia experts.

He joined the department’s Foreign Service in 1985. Since then, he served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and also at the U.S. embassies in South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and France.

Before working for the U.S. government, Yun was a senior economist for Data Resources, Inc., in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Yun was born in Seoul and moved to the U.S. in 1963. He graduated from the University of Wales and London School of Economics.