The United Nations Day on October 24 commemorates the anniversary of the UN's formal establishment through the 1945 UN Charter. In celebration of this day, Oh Joon, the former South Korean ambassador to the UN, and Park Yongmin, the current Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs, will share their stories and insights as part of the Monthly Lecture Series hosted by Asia Society Korea.
H.E. Oh Joon, Board Member, Asia Society Korea (Moderator)
Oh Joon is a professor of United Nations studies at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea. He is also the chair of Save the Children Korea and a board member of Save the Children International. Previously he was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations in New York from 2013 to 2016. During that time, he also served as the 71st president of the Economic and Social Council and as president of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2015 and 2016.
Before that, he was the Korean ambassador to Singapore (2010–13) and deputy minister for multilateral and global affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Seoul (2008–10). The Korean government twice awarded him the Order of Service Merit, in 1996 and 2006. In 2018, Oh received a Global Korea Award from Michigan State University. Rehabilitation International gave him a Global Presidential Award in 2016 in acknowledgment of his achievements as president of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He also received the 2014 Youngsan Diplomat of the Year award for his work on North Korean human rights issues.
He published his first book in Korean, For Mica, Who Contemplates Life, in 2015. He received a master’s degree in international policy studies from Stanford University in 1991.
Read more about H.E. Oh Joon's work with Save the Children here.
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H.E. Park Yongmin, Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs, MOFA
Park Yongmin is the Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs, Ministry of Affairs, Republic of Korea (MOFA). After graduating from Yonsei University's Department of Political Science and Diplomacy, he earned a master's degree in international politics from Cambridge University in the U.K. Park joined the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1991 and has since continued his work within MOFA.
He worked in political affairs, commerce, general affairs, and consular affairs in the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia. In 2009, Park was the director for North Korean Nuclear Affairs Negotiations Division, North Korean Nuclear Affairs Bureau and also working as Consul General for Korean Consulate General in Sendai, Japan.
Last year, before taking on the role as the Deputy Minister, Park also served as a professor at the Korean National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), MOFA. He has also authored numerous publications, including The Movie Buff’s Guide to New York published in 2019.
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