South Korea's new ambassador to the UN plans to present his credentials to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres this week to officially start his duties, Seoul's UN mission said Thursday, as the Asian country serves as president of the UN Security Council this month.
Ambassador Cha Ji-hoon, the first top envoy to the UN under President Lee Jae Myung's administration, is set to meet the UN chief of protocol on Thursday afternoon before presenting his credentials to Guterres the following day.
His debut at the UN comes as South Korea has undertaken the rotating UNSC presidency for this month, when world leaders, including South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump, are set to attend the UN General Assembly High-Level Week next week.
Cha will accompany Lee during his visit at the General Assembly. Lee plans to deliver a keynote speech at the Assembly on Tuesday and preside over an open UNSC debate on artificial intelligence on Wednesday.
Ahead of Cha's arrival in New York, a dispute emerged over the absence of his diplomatic experience at a time when South Korea faces a series of tough foreign policy tasks, including strengthening the alliance with the United States and maintaining stable ties with Japan and China.
Cha's ties to Lee date back decades as they passed the state bar exam in 1986 and joined the post-exam training program and other activities together.
He was also part of Lee's defense team in 2020 when the president, then governor of Gyeonggi Province, stood trial on charges of election law violations. The Supreme Court overturned the lower court's guilty verdict and ordered a retrial. (Yonhap)
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