NEW ROK REPRESENTATIVE TO SOFA JOINT COMMITTEE

UNCLAS SEOUL 000631 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MARR MASS PREL KS SUBJECT: NEW ROK REPRESENTATIVE TO SOFA JOINT COMMITTEE ¶1. (U) Embassy received February 27 a diplomatic note announcing the appointment of Cho Taeyong, the new DG for North American Affairs Bureau, to be the new ROK representative to the SOFA Joint Committee. Full text of the note and DG Cho's bio follows. ¶2. (U) Begin Text: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Republic of Korea February 24, 2006 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea presents its compliments to the Embassy of the United States of America and has the honor to inform the latter that the Korean Government has appointed Mr. Taeyong Cho as the new Representative to the Joint Committee established under provisions of Article XXVIII of the Agreement under the Article IV of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the Republic of the Korea and the United States of America, regarding Facilities and Areas and the Status of the United States Armed Forces in the Republic of Korea. Mr. Cho replaces Mr. Kim Sook as Director-General, North American Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The appointment of Mr. Taeyong Cho is effective from February 10th, 2006. His curriculum vitae is enclosed herewith. The Ministry avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Embassy of the United States of America the assurances of its highest consideration. End Text. ¶3. (U) Begin Text: Director General Taeyong Cho North American Affairs Bureau Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (As of February 2006) Mr. Taeyong Cho assumed the position of Director-General of the North American Affairs Bureau in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea in February 2006. As Director-General, his areas of responsibility are ROK-US and ROK-Canada bilateral relations, including political, economic, and security affairs. Concurrently, he is also the ROK Representative to the bilateral talks with the United States on burden-sharing issues regarding the US Forces in Korea, which are formally called as the "Talks on the Special Measures Agreement to the Status of the Forces Agreement between the Republic of Korea and the United States of America." Before assuming the current position, Mr. Cho was engaged in the Six Party process as a Director-General since February 2004, taking part in the policy-and-decision-making of the ROK Government on the North Korea nuclear issue. He served as the Deputy Head of the ROK delegation to the Six Party Talks. Mr. Cho joined the Foreign Service in 1980. At home, he served various positions handling North American Affairs. He served as the Director of North America Division II between 1997-1998, Director of North America Division I between 1998-2000, and Deputy Director-General of North America Bureau from February 2002 to January 2003. Prior to working in the Six Party Talk process, Mr. Cho was seconded to the Office of the President as the Assistant Protocol Secretary for a year, from April 2003. For his overseas assignment, he served at the Permanent ROK Mission to the United Nations in New York City as a Second Secretary between 1984-1997, the Korean Embassy in Iraq as a SIPDIS First Secretary (1990-1991),the Korean Embassy in the United States of America as a First Secretary (1994-1997),and the Korean Embassy in the Kingdom of Thailand as a Counsellor (1997-2000). Mr. Taeyong Cho graduated from Seoul National University in 1979 with a BA in Political Science. After joining the Foreign Service, he studied in the Foreign Service Program at Oxford University in 1982-1983. Mr. Cho is married and has three children. End Text. VERSHBOW