Moon sends special envoy to China

SEOUL - ROK President Moon Jae-in has picked special envoys to be dispatched to China, the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Union, senior presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan said on Monday.

Yoon said in a statement that Moon picked figures who can best understand his diplomatic vision and foreign policy. They are set to leave as soon as schedules are tuned up with counterparts.

Moon won a landslide victory in the May 9 presidential by-election. Since his inauguration soon after the victory, the new leader had a series of phone conversations with several world leaders and promised to send special envoys for discussions on current situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Moon decided to send Lee Hae-chan, who served as prime minister under the Roh Moo-hyun government, to China as special envoy on the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Lee is an influential figure in Moon's ruling Democratic Party as he is a lawmaker and one of co-chiefs who led the party's presidential campaign.

He was dispatched to China as a special envoy when late president Roh, for whom Moon served as chief of staff, was inaugurated in February 2003.

The Blue House said Lee has a deep experience on China and maintains close relations with Chinese figures.

A senior presidential official, who declined to be identified, confirmed that the special envoy will discuss a broad range of issues, including the THAAD and the DPRK.

As the two issues are interconnected, the official said, they would be handled together.

Moon's special envoys to the world powers will deliver his handwritten letters to his counterparts to express his willingness for a cooperative diplomacy, while meeting with a wide range of senior government officials to explain the new government's policy and vision and exchange in-depth opinions on the development of bilateral relations, the Blue House said.

Other messengers

Meanwhile, Moon selected Hong Seok-hyun, former chairman of the Joongang Media Network, as a special envoy to the United States.

Hong worked for the Roh administration in 2005 as the country's ambassador to Washington and has since built a broad range of personal connections in the US.

Moon Hee-sang, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party, will be sent to Japan as special envoy. He is a former National Assembly vice-speaker and a sitting senior adviser of the ruling party.

He built a broad personal network in Japan when he was the chief of the South Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union in 2004-08.

Song Young-gil of the Democratic Party will be dispatched to Russia as the lawmaker serves now as vice chief of the South Korea-Russia diplomatic committee comprising lawmakers of the two nations.

Song built connections with Russian figures when he served as a mayor of the country's west port city of Incheon in 2010-14. In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded him the Order of Peace and Amity.

Cho Yoon-je, a professor at Sogang University in Seoul, was picked as a special envoy to the EU and Germany. He served as an economic aide to former president Roh and was former ambassador to the United Kingdom in 2005-08.

Xinhua