Shin Kak Soo

Plenary Session 1 - "South Korea and Its Neighbors"

 

Amb. Shin Kak Soo is the Deputy Chairman of the NEAR Foundation, a think tank specializing in research on Northeast Asian affairs. He started his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he held various positions, including Director of the Japan Division, Advisor to the Foreign Minister, Director-General of the Treaties Bureau, Deputy Permanent Representative at the Korean Mission to the United Nations, Ambassador to Israel, First Vice Minister and Second Vice Foreign Minister, and Ambassador to Japan. He also served as the director of the International Law Center at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (2013-2017). For the last 10 years, Amb. Shin worked as a senior advisor at the law firm Shin & Kim, providing extensive expert advice on diverse issues with international implications, including Asian affairs. Amb. Shin is also a member of the Korea-Japan-China Vision Group and has been a visiting fellow at the University of Tokyo, Stanford University, and Peking University. He actively attends international conferences, provides regular commentary in major media outlets, and publishes op-eds and essays on a wide array of international issues in journals and newspapers. Additionally, he has engaged in many NGO activities related to North Korean human rights, humanitarian issues, international law, and Asian regional affairs, especially Korea-Japan relations. Amb. Shin received his B.A. (1977), LL.M. (1979), and J.S.D. (1991) from Seoul National University.