Input 2021.01.22 09:52
The U.S. Department of State’s website revealed that on the 21st (local time), former Ambassador Kim was appointed as acting assistant secretary for East Asia-Pacific of the Biden administration.
The Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific is the highest position in the Department of State in charge of neighboring countries such as Korea, China, Japan, and Mongolia, and oversees foreign policy in the East Asia Pacific region. To be duly appointed to the Assistant Secretary, it must be approved by the Senate.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kim is the ‘North Korean Nuclear Telecommunications’ who served as the US ambassador to Korea after serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, Special Representative for North Korea Policy, and Chief Representative for the Six-Party Talks. After the inauguration of the Barack Obama administration, he was appointed special envoy for the six-party talks.
Prior to the US-North Korea summit in Singapore in June 2018, he served as the Philippine ambassador, but played an important role in the progress of the US-North Korea dialogue, including coordination with the rise of the North Korean Foreign Ministry until the day before the meeting.
He was born in Seoul and immigrated to the United States with his father in the mid-1970s, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and received a master’s degree in law from Loyola Law School and London School of Economics (LSE). In the former Donald Trump administration, he has been the Indonesian ambassador since July 2019.