Ministry of Foreign Affairs Appoints First Female Diplomat as Director General in Charge of Japan Relations

Appointment of Seo Min-jung as Director of Asia-Pacific Bureau
In charge of Korea-Japan 'Director-level Consultation' Channel

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] For the first time, a female diplomat has been appointed as the director of the regional bureau handling relations with Japan at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On the 21st, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Seo Min-jeong, a counselor of the Asia-Pacific Bureau (APB), has been appointed as the director of the APB, which is responsible for diplomacy with countries such as Japan, India, and Australia.

In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan-related affairs were previously handled by the Northeast Asia Bureau, but in 2019, diplomatic duties concerning China and Japan were separated into distinct bureaus, and now the Asia-Pacific Bureau is in charge. The APB also handles the Pacific island countries, whose strategic value has recently increased, along with the other three Quad countries excluding the United States.

In particular, the position of APB director is one of the channels for director-level consultations with Japan to discuss solutions to key issues in Korea-Japan relations, such as the "forced labor compensation" problem. The former director, Lee Sang-ryeol, held several director-level consultations with his counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, Director of the Asia and Oceania Bureau of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to discuss solutions to the forced labor issue.

Director Seo, who passed the 39th Administrative Examination, entered public service and transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2005. Since then, she has served as First Secretary at the Embassy in China, First Secretary at the Embassy in India, Director of the East Asia Economic Diplomacy Division, Minister-Counselor at the Embassy in China, and Minister-Counselor at the Embassy in Japan, gaining extensive political and economic diplomatic experience in the East Asia region.

Recently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has seen a significant increase in the appointment of women to director and counselor positions, ranging from multilateral and economic diplomacy to key regional bureaus, compared to the past.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced personnel appointments for the new Director of the Northeast Asia Bureau, Choi Yong-jun (currently counselor of the Northeast Asia Bureau), and the head of the North Korea Nuclear Diplomacy Planning Team, Lee Jun-il (formerly dispatched to the National Security Office).