Park Kun-woo

Park Kun-woo built his career around relations with the Americas. By the mid-1980s he directed the foreign ministry's American Affairs Bureau; his overseas assignments included ambassadorships in Colombia and Canada, followed by Washington. He also served as vice foreign minister. Journalist Kim Heung-sook, who covered the ministry during Chun Doo-hwan's presidency, remembered his office as a place where diplomats worked under close pressure from intelligence and police officials. ¹

During the financial crisis, Park signed a $3 billion World Bank loan agreement for Korea on December 23, 1997, with the bank's regional vice president, Jean-Michel Severino. He also recalled signing a further $2 billion agreement in March 1998, shortly before leaving Washington. ²

Park subsequently led South Korea's delegation to the Four-Party Talks involving the two Koreas, China, and the United States. After retiring from diplomacy, he moved into higher education at Kyung Hee University, serving as dean of its graduate schools for NGO studies and Pan-Pacific international studies. He became president of Kyung Hee Cyber University in 2003 and remained in that role until his death in 2008. ¹