The government said Monday it appointed Jeon Kyong-mann, a leading defense specialist, as the new executive director of the state-run Institute for Unification Education.

Jeon, 61, will replace Cho Myung-chul, a North Korean defector who became a proportional representative of the ruling Saenuri Party following the April general election. Jeon’s two-year tenure took effect immediately.

He is a former vice president of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses and has held various posts at the government-funded think tank since 1976.

Founded in 1972, the Seoul-based IUE is affiliated with the Unification Ministry and charged with raising public awareness of issues including inter-Korean relations, the South Korean government’s unification vision and other stakeholders’ North Korea policies. 

(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)