TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The South Korean foreign ministry has appointed former Korean Security Agency of Trade and Industry President Lee Eun-ho as the new representative to Taiwan.
Ho is scheduled to arrive next Monday (Feb. 20) and will replace Representative Chung Byung-won, who has held the post since December 2021. The change comes after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol took office in May.
Ho received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in 1991 and became director of the International Standard Division under South Korea’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy in 2000. In 2006, he was the first secretary at the Korean embassy in Vietnam.
He briefly was the director of the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy’s Northeast Asia Trade Division in 2013 before serving as minister-counselor at the Korean embassy in the United Arab Emirates in 2014.
South Korea has become more vocal in advocating peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait in recent years, issuing joint statements with the U.S. and Japan.
In December, South Korea’s Taiwan-Korean parliamentary friendship group visited Taiwan and met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). When China’s embassy in South Korea protested, the delegation leader, Deputy Speaker Cho Kyoung-tae, took to Facebook and said China’s protest is not an action a normal country would take.
He called Beijing's accusations “authoritative and irresponsible” and said “China should not worry about foreign countries' diplomacy. I'd rather solve the North Korean nuclear problem.”
