India to have new Korean envoy as SHIN Bongkil completes 3-year term in India; Korean Community bids farewell

NEW DELHI: Chang (Jang) Jae-bok will be the new Ambassador to India as current Ambassador Shin Bongkil completes his 3-year term in India and is all set to leave the country on July 1.

Chang Jae-bok is currently posted as the Ambassador for Public Diplomacy in Korea and will assume his office in India in the middle of next month.

Ambassador Shin was appointed Ambassador to India in January 2018 after South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-in government took office in May 2017.

The three-and-a-half years of stay in India have been quite challenging for him as his tenure witnessed two Covid-19 waves.

“H.E. Ambassador made many efforts to extend cooperation between India and South Korea economically and geopolitically during his tenure successfully. He tried to build friendship between the two countries. The Korean community in India appreciates his approach to make good relationship with India considering the fact that India is an important county for Koreans,” said Euy Don Park, President, Federation of Korean Associations in India.

Federation of Korean Associations in India that represents eight associations including Chennai, Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Andhra Pradesh, and New Delhi bid farewell to the outgoing Ambassador on Tuesday.

Park met the Ambassador at the Embassy in Delhi while current and former presidents of all associations joined the ceremony online.

“I appreciate his support for the Korean community. He always stood for the Korean people and the companies during the hard times and was always at the centre of the problems to solve them. Especially during the Covid pandemic, he was on the frontline to fight for the Korean people,” Park added.

He arranged for special flights to vacate the Korean people during the lockdown period and it was a tough job in the beginning but he was successful in persuading the Indian and the Korean governments for it as many expats wanted to come back to Korea. About 4000 Korean expats went back to Korea.

Park said, “During the second wave, India witnessed a shortage of hospital beds, oxygen, and other medical equipment while the number of patients increased. During this time, the Korean Associations and the Korean embassy jointly arranged for oxygen concentrators. It was not easy during the lockdown period but the embassy arranged for the logistics to transport the same to the Korean community staying in far-flung areas.”

Some of the achievements of Ambassador Shin Bongkil included the induction of Korean languages into the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 of India. It was during his tenure only, the construction Korean Indian Friendship Park was completed in New Delhi, and also Suriratna park (Queen Ho) park came up in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

About Ambassador Shin Bongkil’s track record:

Shin Bongkil is a career diplomat. He joined the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1978 and has a long and distinguished career as a diplomat spanning over four decades. During this period, he held many senior diplomatic postings both at the headquarters and missions abroad.

Some of his recent postings include Special Advisor at the Office of Planning for the North Korean Light-Water Reactor Project (2002-2003), Spokesperson for the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2003-2004), Minister at the Korean Embassy in Beijing, China (2004-2007), Ambassador to Jordan (2007-2010), Secretary-General of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) of China, Japan, and Korea (2011-2013) and the President of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS) at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (2014-15).

He retired from the Foreign Ministry in 2015. After his retirement, he taught China and Korean peninsula issues at the Graduate School of International Studies in Yonsei University. He was appointed as Ambassador to India in January 2018 after Korea’s new Moon Jae-in government took office in May 2017.

Ambassador Shin has a keen interest in regional affairs of East Asia. Given his expertise in regional affairs, he has been involved many times in issues related to North Korea, China, and Japan. He also visited North Korea several times during the KEDO (The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization) mission to solve the North Korean nuclear issue.

Ambassador Shin graduated from Seoul National University with a B.A. in international relations. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the University’s Weekly Newspaper. He studied Chinese at Beijing University and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in North Korean Studies from the University of North Korean Studies in Korea.