Ex-nuclear negotiator of S Korea named envoy to US

Lee Soo-hyuck of the ruling Democratic Party of South Korea, best known for his role in the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program, has been appointed as the country's' new ambassador to the United States.

The development comes after President Moon Jae-in carried out his first Cabinet reshuffle in five months on Friday, Yonhap news agency reported.

Lee, 70, served as South Korea's first chief delegate to six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia when the forum was launched in 2003 with the goal of resolving the denuclearisation issue in the entire Korean peninsula.

Prior to that, he took part as one of the representatives for the four-party dialogue on North Korea issues in 1997 and worked as a foreign affairs secretary to then-President Kim Dae-jung in 1999.

Lee, who entered the foreign service in 1975, also served as deputy foreign minister and later as deputy director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) under the government of former President Roh Moo-hyun.

He also served as ambassador to Yugoslavia in 2002 and Germany in 2005.

Lee began his political career in 2016 when he was a university professor after the then-opposition party chief, Moon Jae-in, recruited him to spearhead the party's subcommittee in charge of the peninsula and inter-Korean affairs.

He won his parliamentary proportional representation seat in 2017.