Jung Jae-ho, the first ambassador to China under President Yoon Suk-yeol, completed his term after 2 years and 6 months in office. With the appointment of his successor, Kim Dae-ki, former Chief of Staff to the President, being unclear due to the impeachment situation, a vacancy in diplomatic relations with China is expected for the time being.
According to diplomatic sources on the 27th, the Korean Embassy in China held a farewell ceremony for Ambassador Jung starting at 5 p.m. local time for about 20 minutes.
It is reported that the embassy announced the farewell ceremony only after 4 p.m. Earlier that day, an embassy official had said, regarding the possibility of Ambassador Jung returning to Korea before March, "I have no idea about what is happening in Seoul," and "nothing has been decided at this time," yet, just a few hours later, Ambassador Jung's farewell ceremony took place swiftly.
Ambassador Jung is a classmate of President Yoon Suk-yeol from Chungam High School. He served as a professor at Seoul National University in the Department of Political Science and International Relations and acted as a policy advisor to President Yoon during the last presidential election. In April 2022, immediately after the election, he visited the United States as part of the Korea-U.S. Policy Consultation Delegation and explained President Yoon's policy towards China alongside former Foreign Minister Park Jin.
In June of the same year, he was appointed as ambassador to China, and in August, he officially took office as the 14th ambassador to China and the first ambassador under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
Last year, he was investigated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs due to allegations of abuses against subordinate employees. After the investigation, the ministry issued a verbal warning in the name of the Minister.
The Yoon Suk-yeol administration appointed former Chief of Staff Kim as the next ambassador to China in October last year, and it is known that Kim had already received the agrément from the Chinese government. Since then, Ambassador Jung had been preparing for his return to Korea. However, as the schedule for the next ambassador's appointment became unclear due to incidents like the declaration of martial law in December last year, Ambassador Jung maintained an ambiguous status of remaining in office.
Ambassador Jung has disclosed his positions through regular monthly meetings with Korean media correspondents. However, he had not appeared since his last briefing on December 2 last year, the day before President Yoon declared a state of emergency, until he suddenly decided to return to Korea. At last month's briefing, Ambassador Jung did not hold a briefing as he temporarily returned to Korea due to family health issues.
In the absence of the next ambassador, it is expected that the Korean Embassy in China will operate under the charge d'affaires system for the time being.