By Kang Seung-woo
An offer of resignation from the nation’s ambassador to Japan has triggered speculation that President Park Geun-hye may soon announce a list of new envoys to be assigned to the United States and the United Nations.
Sources said Thursday that the three-year terms for Ahn Ho-young, the ambassador to the U.S., and Oh Joon, the ambassador to the United Nations, are scheduled to end in June and September, respectively.
Yoo Heung-soo, Korea’s Ambassador to Japan who took office in August 2014, said Wednesday that he recently offered to resign after relations between Seoul and Tokyo got back on track from disputes over the issue of “comfort women.”
President Park is expected to accept Yoo’s resignation after she appoints a successor.
“There is a possibility that the ambassadors to the U.S. and the U.N. could be replaced after the April 13 general election,” a source said.
Park Joon-woo, a former senior presidential secretary for political affairs, now chairman of the Sejong Foundation, is one possible successor to Yoo.
As for Ahn’s possible replacement, Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Ju Chul-ki, a former senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs and security, are among the possible candidates, sources said.
Ambassador to Russia Park Ro-byug and Ambassador to China Kim Jang-soo are expected to stay in the job given that they took office in May and March 2015, respectively.