Participant Biographies

Kim Jong-Hoon

Kim Jong-Hoon

Former Member of the National Assembly, Republic of Korea
Concurrent Session 2-1 -"Protectionism or Free Trade?"

Amb. Kim Jong-Hoon is a former member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. He, as a career diplomat, has 38 years of experience in foreign service and trade issues, with key postings in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Geneva, Canada and France among other locales. He led the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) as the chief negotiator in 2006 and half through 2007. From August 2007 through December 2011, he worked extensively on Korea’s bilateral and multilateral trade agenda as Minister for Trade of Korea. During his tenure, he concluded and put in place FTAs with India, the EU, Peru and the United States. In April 2012, Amb. Kim was elected in the general elections as a candidate of the then-ruling party and served for 4 years as a member of the National Assembly. He has served 3 years as a special advisor to Hyundai Motor Group and 6 years as an independent director of SK Innovation.