Seoul replaces nuke envoy

By Kang Seung-woo

Kim Hong-kyun

Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun has been appointed as South Korea’s top nuclear envoy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced, Monday.

Hwang Joon-kook, Kim’s predecessor, will become Korea’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.

The ministry said that the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council’s new resolution in response to North Korea’s recent nuclear test and rocket launch is nearing the end, so it carried out the reshuffle.

Kim, who joined the foreign ministry in 1984, has worked in various appointments within it, including the director of the North America Division 2 under North American Affairs Bureau and the senior coordinator for ROK-U.S Security Cooperation Division.

From 2009 to 2012, he served as the director-general for the Korean Peninsula Peace Regime Bureau under the Office of Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, dealing with the North’s torpedoing of the naval ship Cheonan and shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010.

He also worked for the presidential transition committee in 2013 before serving as the secretary for policy coordination at the National Security Office in 2014.

Hwang’s appointment is drawing attention because the top nuclear envoy has been replaced amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of Pyongyang’s recent provocations.

However, the ministry stressed that there will be no trouble in terms of task continuity.

“Kim has handled similar jobs, so he will have no difficulty in doing the new duty,” the ministry said.

In addition, since the former Ambassador to United Kingdom Lim Sung-nam moved to the first vice foreign minister in October last year, there has been a vacancy in the post, according to the ministry.