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Chung Eui-yong
Chung Eui-yong
정의용
	Chung in 2018
37th Minister of Foreign Affairs
	In office; February 9, 2021 – May 12, 2022
President	Moon Jae-in
Prime Minister	Chung Sye-kyun; Kim Boo-kyum
Preceded by	Kang Kyung-wha
Succeeded by	Park Jin
Special Advisor to the President on Foreign Affairs, Diplomacy and National Security
	In office; July 3, 2020 – January 20, 2021
President	Moon Jae-in
Succeeded by	Kim Hyun-jong
Director of the National Security Office
	In office; May 20, 2017 – July 2, 2020
President	Moon Jae-in
Preceded by	Kim Kwan-jin
Succeeded by	Suh Hoon
Personal details
Born	April 14, 1946 (age 78)
Alma mater	Seoul National University; Harvard University
Korean name
Hangul	정의용
Hanja	鄭義溶
Revised Romanization	Jeong Uiyong
McCune–Reischauer	Chŏng Ŭiyong

Chung Eui-yong (Korean: 정의용; born April 14, 1946) is a South Korean diplomat and a politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2021 to 2022. Chung was previously President Moon Jae-in's first Director of National Security from 2017 to 2020.^[1]^[2]

Career

A 1968 graduate of Seoul National University, Chung joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1971. He subsequently served as Korean Ambassador to Israel (1997–1998), Deputy Minister for Trade (1998–2001), and as Korean Ambassador to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN Secretariat and International Organizations in Geneva (2001–2004). He was returned to the 17th National Assembly in the 2004 elections as a proportional representative for the Uri Party. In the National Assembly, he was a member of the Special Committee on United States–Korea Free Trade Agreement. He then became Secretary-General of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties. On May 20, 2017, newly-inaugurated president Moon Jae-in appointed him as the ministerial-level Director of the National Security Office.^[3]^[4] In July 2020, Chung was replaced by Suh Hoon and reshuffled to President Moon's Special Advisor on Foreign Affairs, Diplomacy and National Security.^[5] In January 2021, he replaced Kang Kyung-hwa as the new South Korean Foreign Minister.^[6]

Political activity

In March 2018, as South Korea's Special Envoy to North Korea, Chung Eui-yong visited Pyongyang to discuss the required steps to denuclearise North Korea.^[7] He then flew to the United States for a meeting with President Donald Trump and to announce the Trump-Kim summit.^[8]

On November 4, 2019, at a waiting room on the sidelines of the ASEAN Plus 3 (Japan, China, and South Korea) summit held near Bangkok, when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talked with South Korean President Moon Jae-in for 11 minutes, Chung Eui-yong took photos, and they were published without the approval of the Japanese side.^[9]

Chung had been in charge of bilateral intelligence-sharing agreement, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), with Japan.^[10]

References

^ Song, Sang-ho (February 8, 2021). "FM Kang leaves office after years of daunting diplomatic tasks". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
^ Ahn, Sung-mi (February 8, 2021). "Moon appoints new foreign minister". The Korea Herald. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
^ Ha, Mathew (May 23, 2017). "Impact Player: Chung Eui-yong". Center for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
^ [프로필] 정의용, 외교관 출신의 靑국가안보실장...다자외교 통상전문가. The Chosun Ilbo. May 21, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
^ "Moon names new spy chief, unification minister, national security advisor". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
^ "South Korea to replace Kang Kyung-wha, the nation's first woman foreign minister | NK News". Archived from the original on January 20, 2021.
^ http://english.donga.com/Home/3/all/26/1240505/1 | title= Seoul to send special delegation to Pyongyang next week
^ Times, The New York (March 9, 2018). "Seeking 'Peaceful Resolution': Transcript of South Korean Adviser's Remarks". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ Takao Harakawa (November 11, 2019). "Japanese Officials Irked by South Korea's 'Photo Ambush' of Prime Minister Abe at ASEAN Meeting". Japan Forward. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
^ "Top South Korean official accuses Japan of distorting facts in intel-pact negotiations". Kyodo News. November 24, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2021.

Political offices
Preceded by Kim Kwan-jin	Director of National Security Office 2017–2020	Succeeded by Suh Hoon
Preceded by Kang Kyung-wha	Minister of Foreign Affairs 2021–2022	Succeeded by Park Jin