NEW ROK ALTERNATE REPRESENTATIVE TO SOFA JOINT

UNCLAS SEOUL 000914 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MARR MASS PREL KS SUBJECT: NEW ROK ALTERNATE REPRESENTATIVE TO SOFA JOINT COMMITTEE ¶1. (U) Embassy received March 17 a diplomatic note announcing the appointment of MOFAT North America Bureau Deputy Director General Lim Sungnam to be the new Alternate Representative to the SOFA Joint Committee. Full text of the note and Mr. Lim's bio follows: ¶2. (U) Begin text: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Republic of Korea OSF-821 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. Lim Sungnam as the new Alternate 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 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. The appointment of Mr. Lim Sungnam 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. Enclosure: as stated above Seoul, February 27, 2006 End Text. ¶3. (U) Begin text: Deputy Director-General Sungnam Lim North American Affairs Bureau Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (As of March 2006) Mr. Sungnam Lim assumed the position of a Deputy Director-General of the North American Affairs Bureau in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea in February 2006. In this new position, his area of primary responsibility is Korea-US security cooperation. Before coming back to Seoul for this job, Mr. Lim has been Political Counselor at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., where he has handled the North Korean nuclear issue and the Korea-US alliance, among others. In this capacity, he participated in the Six-Party Talks held in Beijing in 2005 as a member of the Korean delegation. Prior to this position, he also served as Congressional Counselor at the Embassy in charge of the relationship between the Korean government and Capitol Hill. Before going to Washington for these assignments in March 2003, he served as Director of North America Division I in 2002 and Director of North America Division III in 2001, respectively. While serving as Director of NAD III, he was involved in many USFK-related talks such as SMA and LPP negotiations. Mr. Lim joined the Foreign Service in 1981, and besides Washington, D.C,. where had gone for his first overseas assignment in 1988, he served at the Korean Mission to the United Nations in New York City as well as the Korean Mission in Taipei, Taiwan. At the Korean Mission to the UN, he dealt with the Middle East issues, including Iraq, at the Security Council where Korea was a non-permanent member from 1996-1997. In particular, he served as Chairman of the Working Group on Procedural Matters when Korea took up the Presidency of the Security Council in May 1997. At home, he also served at the Japan Desk in 1991-1992 dealing with Japan's security policy, and handled the first North Korean nuclear crisis in 1993-1994 at the Blue House, which is the Korean equivalent of the White House. Mr. Lim has a BA and MA in international relations from Seoul National University, and studied political science at Harvard University, where he earned an AM and worked toward a Ph,D. Besides Korean and English, he speaks Chinese an Japanese and in his leisure time, enjoys playing golf and visiting museums. VERSHBOW