Who is Cho Hyun, who is expected to become foreign minister in South Korea's new government?

Former UN Ambassador Cho Hyun is expected to soon take up the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the new South Korean administration led by President Lee Jae Myung.
The National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee adopted the progress report on Cho's personnel hearing on the 18th of this month. Meanwhile, the opposition party initially pointed out allegations of land speculation against Cho.
However, given that negotiations are about to begin on the tariffs proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, the adoption of hearing reports for the nominees for foreign affairs, economy, and trade, including Cho, is expected to be a major step forward.
Cho has decided to cooperate with the US. He is scheduled to visit the US this week for negotiations. What kind of person is Cho, who will be in charge of diplomacy with Japan in the future?
Lee, who took office as president on the 4th of last month, is currently selecting his cabinet candidates, and confirmation hearings for the 16 nominees for cabinet positions are currently underway.
The hearing took place from the 14th to the 18th of the same month. The personnel hearing is a system in which the National Assembly examines the qualifications and capabilities of high-ranking public officials. South Korea began the system in 2000. The hearing is held to determine whether a public office candidate is suitable for the position.
If the candidate is deemed suitable at the hearing, the personnel hearing report is adopted, the president appoints the candidate, and the candidate officially takes office.
The president can appoint the head of the ministry, which has led to criticism that the position has become a mere formality. Last month, Lee nominated Cho as his candidate for foreign minister. At the time, the presidential office said Cho had "extensive diplomatic experience in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, and has been a key figure in trade issues."
Cho was born in Gimje, North Gimla Province, in the southwest. He is a former member of the diplomatic service and served in the 20s during the Moon Jae-in administration, which was also a progressive party like Lee.
He served as second and first vice ministers of foreign affairs from 2017 to 2019, and was appointed ambassador to the United Nations in 2019. In diplomacy with Japan, he was involved in the negotiations for the Japan-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and visited Japan in 2018 to carry out foreign affairs affairs.
He met with the Vice Minister and conveyed his intention to dissolve the Reconciliation and Healing Foundation, which was established based on the Japan-Korea agreement on the comfort women issue. The Japan-Korea agreement proclaimed the "final and irreversible resolution" of the comfort women issue.
The Moon administration at the time effectively scrapped the agreement in 2018, claiming that it had not fully listened to the voices of the victims. The Reconciliation and Healing Foundation was established based on the agreement with funding from the Japanese government, but
The parliament was dissolved in July 1999. Cho, who was nominated by Lee as a candidate for foreign minister, appeared at a personnel hearing in the National Assembly on the 17th. At the hearing, he spoke about the "Sado Island" project in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, which will be registered as a World Heritage Site in 2024.
Regarding "Kumsan," some lawmakers in attendance pointed out that Japan has not kept the promises it made when registering the site. In response, Cho said, "It is impossible to completely settle past historical issues with Japan.
"I think it's difficult to resolve historical issues all at once. If we reach an agreement too easily, Japan will accuse us of 'moving the goalposts' later on, and we will face a backlash."
He added, "Even if we convey our wishes to Japan or make strong demands, I don't think Japan's response will change easily. We need to be patient and continue to raise the issue in bilateral and multilateral forums."
"However, we should encourage Japan to change little by little on its own," he said, emphasizing, "We will proceed on the premise that we take sensible measures that do not damage our future-oriented public relations."
Cho also mentioned the need to adjust the joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea in order to resume dialogue with North Korea. "If some adjustments are necessary based on the ROK-U.S. alliance, we can do that," he said.
Regarding tariff negotiations with the United States, Cho said he believes it is possible to conclude the negotiations by August 1, the date when the moratorium on mutual tariffs proposed by U.S. President Trump expires, and said that he will take office as president.
He said he would immediately visit the United States after the election to hold final negotiations. The main opposition People Power Party had initially questioned Cho's qualifications as a high-ranking public official, accusing him of land speculation.
However, the party decided to cooperate with the adoption of the personnel hearing report. Son Eon-seok, the party's emergency response committee chairman and floor leader, said, "Due to the urgent situation with less than two weeks until the implementation of the reciprocal tariffs by the US,
"We will cooperate to quickly adopt the hearing reports of the nominees for minister of economy, trade, and industry so that they can be immediately used in the tariff negotiations," Cho said. Cho will soon be officially sworn in as foreign minister.