President Park Geun-hye has appointed Yu Myeong-hui, counselor at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat, as her new spokeswoman for the foreign media, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday.

Yu is a diplomat specializing in trade issues. She worked at the multilateral trade bureau and free trade department under the foreign ministry and served as a counselor at the South Korean Embassy in Beijing. Yu replaces Lee Mi-yon, who served as presidential spokeswoman for the foreign press since the Lee Myung-bak government. Lee has been appointed an economic counselor at the embassy in Beijing, the office said.

The president also named Min Moo-suk, research director of equality and human resource development policies at the state-run Korean Women’s Development Institute, as her new secretary for women and family affairs. Min is an expert on labor policies for women. She previously worked for the government as a member of the gender equality committee under the Ministry of Education and as a senior official in the human resource development division at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Min is filling a presidential secretary post for women and family affairs that had remained vacant since late last year. Chung Young-soon, former secretary for women affairs, resigned in December citing personal reasons.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)