Cho Tae-yul

Minister Cho Tae-yul is the 41st Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Korea, assuming his position since January 2024. During more than 40 years of his diplomatic career since 1979, Minister Cho held various senior positions in the ROK government including Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN (2016-2019), Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs (2013-2016), Ambassador for Development Cooperation (2011-2012), Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain (2008-2011), Deputy Minister for Trade (2007-2008), and Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Office and Other International Organizations in Geneva (2005-2007). While serving as ROK’s Permanent Representative to the UN, he was elected as Chairman of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) in 2017, and subsequently as President of the Executive Boards of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in 2019. He also served as a member of the Advisory Group of the UN Development Cooperation Forum in his capacity as ROK’s Ambassador for Development Cooperation (2011-2012) and contributed to the work of the Global Agenda Council on the Arctic of the World Economic Forum (WEF) as its member (2014-2016). During his tour in Geneva, he played a key role as the ROK’s representative for WTO/DDA negotiations. He also served as the Chairman of the WTO dispute panel on the famous US vs. EU hormone case (2005-2007) and the Chairman of the WTO Government Procurement Committee (2005-2007). Minister Cho is the author of The Power of Pride and Principle (Nanam, 2021), a memoir published in 2021. Minister Cho received his Bachelor of Laws from Seoul National University (SNU). He continued his studies in public international law at the Graduate School of SNU and international relations at Oxford University.