Law School Alum New S. Korea Ambassador to U.N.
Law School Grad New S. Korea Ambassador to U.N.
Press contact:
James O’Neill
212-854-1584
August 9, 2007 - South Korea President Roh Moo-hyun has named Columbia Law School graduate Kim Hyun-chong the new ambassador to the United Nations in New York, as part of a reshuffling of President Roh’s cabinet announced this week.
Kim had served for three years as the country’s trade minister and was credited with the free trade agreement South Korea and the United States signed in June. Kim steps in as ambassador at a critical moment, in the wake of North Korea’s recent decision to close its main nuclear reactor and readmit a permanent United Nations inspection team.
The recent trade agreement, KORUS FTA, builds on an already robust bilateral trade and investment relationship between the United States and Korea, which has the world’s 10th largest economy, with a GDP of nearly $1 trillion.
Kim, who graduated from Columbia Law School in 1985, has also served in the legal division of the World Trade Organization, and was general counsel for South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has taught trade law at Hong-ik University in Seoul.
Columbia Law School has long produced graduates who assume leadership positions in South Korea. Among them is Hong-Choo Hyun ’69, who served as ambassador to the United States, and Yonsei University College of Law Professor Jeong-ho Roh ’88, director of Columbia’s Center for Korean Legal Studies. Mr. Roh served as a legal advisor to the Korean Ministry of Unification addressing North Korea’s light water nuclear reactor project.
Columbia Law School also has centers on Japanese law and Chinese law.
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, stands at the forefront of legal education and of the law in a global society. Columbia Law School graduates have provided leadership worldwide in a remarkably broad range of fields – government, diplomacy, the judiciary, business, non-profit, advocacy, entertainment, academia, science and the arts.
Led by Dean David Schizer, Columbia Law School joins traditional strengths in international and comparative law, constitutional law, administrative law, business law and human rights law with pioneering work in the areas of intellectual property, digital technology, sexuality and gender, and criminal law. The Law School offers J.D., J.S.D. and LL.M. degree programs to a diverse student body.