New Permanent Representative of Republic of Korea Presents Credentials

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service)

Cho Hyun, the new Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations, presented his credentials to UN Secretary‑General António Guterres today.

Before his latest appointment, Mr. Cho served as First Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs since September 2018, having previously served as Second Vice Minister from June 2017.

His foreign service included postings as Ambassador to India in 2015, Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representatives to the International Organizations in Vienna (2011) and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (2006).

Mr. Cho previously served as First Secretary at his country’s embassy in the United States (1995) and as Second Secretary in Senegal (1989), the Central African Republic (1987) and Belgium (1985).

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Seoul, he was appointed Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs in 2009, Ambassador for Energy and Resources in 2008 and Director‑General of the Ministry’s International Economic Affairs Bureau in 2004.

He also served as Senior Assistant Secretary in the Office of the President in 2003 and as Deputy Director‑General of the International Economic Affairs Bureau in 2002.

Among other positions, Mr. Cho was named Visiting Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in 2014.  In February 1999, he worked at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris.

Mr. Cho received a PhD in international politics from the University of Toulouse, France, in 2008, and Master of Arts degrees in international political science from the School of Political Science of Paris (2000) and international relations from Columbia University in New York (1993).  He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Yonsei University, Seoul, in 1980.

Awarded his country’s Order of Service Merit (Red Stripes) in 2012, he also earned Austria’s Das Grosse Silberne Ehrenzeichen am Bande für Verdienste in 2014.

Born on 30 November 1957, Mr. Cho is married and has a son.