Yu Seung-pil, 67, chairman and CEO of Yuyu Pharma, Inc. and honorary consul of Haiti, was selected as dean of the corps of honorary consuls in South Korea during the group’s biannual general session at a hotel in Seoul on July 5.

Yu takes over the position from Cho Hae-hyeong, chairman and CEO of Nara Holdings and honorary consul general of Iceland in South Korea, and who was dean of the corps for 10 years. Yu was one of three vice deans before becoming dean. Cho became an honorary consul in 1977 and Yu in 1997.

Yuyu Pharma is a $40 million corporation that manufactures and markets medicine here and abroad. Its major product is a drug for Alzheimer’s disease, which accounts for 45 percent of the company’s total revenue. Yu earned both his MBA and his Ph.D. in international business from Columbia University in 1971 and 1979, respectively. He joined Yuyu Pharma in 1983.

The group of honorary consuls in South Korea was established in the early 1970s when South Korea had diplomatic relations with few countries, and even fewer countries had honorary consuls here, according to Cho.

The job of an honorary consul here is to assist in fostering friendship and cooperation between the foreign country he or she represents and South Korea. They do not enjoy the same privileges as diplomatic officers, such as immunity from domestic laws and regulations.

There are 128 such honorary consuls representing 110 countries in South Korea.

(ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)