South Korea has named Park Cheol-hee, the head of a government diplomatic think tank, as its new ambassador to Japan. South Korea’s presidential office announced on Wednesday that Park, a well-known Japan scholar, will replace the current ambassador Yun Duk-min.
An expert on South Korea-Japan relations, Park currently heads the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA). Fluent in Japanese, Park has broad connections within Japanese political circles.
After graduating from Seoul National University and obtaining a Ph.D. in politics from Columbia University, he took up posts including chief at SNU’s Institute for Japanese Studies, before assuming his current position of KNDA chancellor in March last year.
Park was among the members of a delegation sent to Japan in April 2022, before Yoon’s inauguration as president in May the same year, for diplomatic policy discussions with Japanese officials.
