Cho Tae-yul

Amb. Cho Tae-yul concluded his 3-year assignment in New York as Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations on October 18, 2019 and will retire from 40 years of diplomatic service in December, 2019. During his tour of duty in New York, he also served as Chairman of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) (2017) and President of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS (2019). Previously, he had held various senior positions in the Korean government including, among others, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs (2013-2016), Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain (2008-2011), Deputy Minister for Trade (2007-2008), and Ambassador to UN Office and other International Organizations in Geneva (2005-2007). He was also appointed as member of the Advisory Group of the UN Development Cooperation Forum while he was serving as Korea’s Ambassador for Development Cooperation (2011-2012). During his tour in Geneva (2005-2007), he played a key role as Korea’s representative for WTO/DDA negotiations and served as Chairman of WTO dispute panel on the famous Hormone case between the U.S. and EU as well as Chairman of the WTO Government Procurement Committee.

During his early years in the Korean foreign service starting from 1979, he was widely recognized as a leading specialist in international trade. He served as Director General for Bilateral Trade (2003-2005), Deputy Director General for Trade Policy Planning (2002-2003), Counsellor at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. (2000-2002), Counsellor at Korea’s Permanent Mission in Geneva (1996-2000) and Director for North America Trade Division (1995-1996). He also sharpened his expertise in political and security arenas while serving as First Secretary in the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. (1990-1993) and Senior Assistant to the Foreign Minister (1994-1995).

Amb. Cho graduated from the College of Law, Seoul National University (SNU) in 1979. He continued his studies in public international law at the Graduate School of SNU (1979-1981) and international relations at the Oxford University (1982-1983).

Amb. Cho received the Order of Service Merit (Red Stripes), Republic of Korea in 2008 and the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit, Kingdom of Spain in 2012. He is married to Kim Hyekyung and has two children.