[News Figure] Who Is Kim Dae-gi, the Nominee for Ambassador to China?

Kim Dae-gi, the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to China, was born in 1956 in Jinju, Gyeongnam. After graduating from Gyeonggi High School (Class of 71), he entered the Department of Economics at Seoul National University (Class of 75). He later completed a master's course in Public Administration at the Graduate School of Public Administration at Seoul National University and earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He entered public service by passing the 22nd Administrative Examination in 1978. He served as an administrative officer in the Presidential Secretariat during the civilian government and held various positions at the Ministry of Planning and Budget, including Director of Budget Standards, Director of Administrative and Cultural Budget, Director of Defense Budget, Social Budget Review Officer, and Director of Fiscal Management Planning. From June 2006 to May 2007, during the mid-to-late period of the Roh Moo-hyun administration, he served as the Economic Policy Secretary in the Presidential Secretariat. After the inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak government, he took on the vice-ministerial post of Commissioner of Statistics Korea. He subsequently served as the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs to the President, and Chief of Staff to the President. After the Park Geun-hye administration began, he stepped down from his position and served as an outside director of Doosan Infracore. With the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, he served as the inaugural Chief of Staff to the President.

He is known for his gentle personality but is also recognized as a person who does not back down when it comes to his area of expertise. Mr. Kim is a policy expert who has strongly opposed populist policies.

Regarding the appointment of former Chief of Staff Kim Dae-gi as Ambassador to China, the Blue House stated that he is a "traditional economic bureaucrat with extensive experience in state affairs," and that "he has rich policy experience in promoting economic cooperation projects with China, such as the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and resolving Korea-China trade conflicts, having worked in economic ministries for a long time." They also said, "He has always had a deep interest in Korea-China relations centered on economic issues, has delved into Chinese society, history, and culture, and possesses excellent Chinese language skills. It is expected that he will not only continue to develop the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries but also achieve diplomatic results befitting Korea's status in the rapidly changing Northeast Asian order."