Johyeondong to Remain First Vice Foreign Minister Until Agr?ment... Minimizing Diplomatic Line Vacancy

Minimizing Personnel Gaps Ahead of US State Visit and G7 Summit

With Kim Sung-han, the Director of the National Security Office, being abruptly replaced by Cho Tae-yong as Ambassador to the United States, a series of personnel changes are rapidly taking place, including Cho Hyun-dong, the First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, being nominated as Ambassador to the U.S. Until Cho’s formal appointment letter is received through the agrement procedure, he will continue to serve as the First Vice Minister. This is to minimize any personnel gaps ahead of next month’s Korea-U.S. summit and the Group of Seven (G7) summit.

President Yoon Suk-yeol appointed Cho Tae-yong as the successor to former Director Kim the day before, and on the 30th, nominated Cho Hyun-dong, the current First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, as the next Ambassador to the U.S. The administration plans to request agrement (prior consent for diplomatic envoys) from the U.S. government regarding Cho Hyun-dong’s nomination. The agrement process with the U.S. government is expected to take approximately 4 to 6 weeks.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Cho, the nominee, is a diplomat well-versed in North Korea and North Korean nuclear issues, having served as Charg? d’Affaires at the Korean Embassy in the U.S., Director of the North Korean Nuclear Diplomacy Planning Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs. He graduated from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies with a degree in Spanish Language and Literature and entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1985 after passing the 19th Foreign Service Examination. He is recognized as a leading diplomatic official specializing in U.S. diplomacy and North Korean nuclear issues. His career includes serving as Director of the North American Affairs Division 3, Charg? d’Affaires and Minister Counselor at the Korean Embassy in India, and from 2008 during the Lee Myung-bak administration, he worked as a Senior Administrative Officer in the Office of Foreign Strategy at the Blue House.

With President Yoon’s state visit to the U.S. just four weeks away, it is reported that the agrement procedure will be expedited as much as possible. In the U.S., the agrement process has been accelerated to about two weeks in cases of special circumstances. For example, former Ambassador Choi Young-jin, who was nominated and assumed office in March 2012, also underwent a rapid agrement process.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, concerns have been raised that with major ‘diplomatic events’ approaching, the consecutive replacements of Protocol Secretary Kim Il-beom and Diplomatic Secretary Lee Moon-hee, followed by the resignation of Kim Sung-han, the ‘diplomatic security control tower,’ could inevitably cause disruptions to the schedule.

In response, a Foreign Ministry official explained, “We maintain close cooperative relationships with the U.S. Department of State, the White House, and related agencies, and a highly coordinated system is already in place for the state visit to the U.S.” The official added, “The new National Security Office Director was previously the Ambassador to the U.S. and is well-informed of all major issues, so it is expected that key events will proceed smoothly without any setbacks.”