(MENAFN) South Korea has nominated Kang Kyung-wha, its former foreign minister and first woman to hold that role, to serve as the country’s next ambassador to the United States, ahead of President Lee Jae Myung’s upcoming summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The announcement, first reported by media on Tuesday, marks a strategic move as Seoul prepares for high-level diplomatic engagements in Washington and Tokyo.

Veteran diplomat Lee Hyuk, 67, was also selected to represent South Korea in Japan. The government has submitted formal agrément requests to both the United States and Japan, according to the office of President Lee.

If approved, these nominations would fill two key ambassadorial posts that have remained vacant for the past two months.

President Lee is set to travel to Tokyo on August 23 for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, before heading to Washington for his first bilateral meeting with Trump.

Kang, 70, led South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2021 during the Moon Jae-in administration. Her global diplomatic résumé includes senior roles under three United Nations Secretaries-General — Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon, and Antonio Guterres.

Currently, she serves as president and CEO of the New York-based think tank Asia Society and holds a PhD from the University of Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, Lee Hyuk brings decades of experience to the post in Tokyo, having previously served as South Korea’s ambassador to both Vietnam and the Philippines.

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