Shin Kak-soo

Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs

Date of Birth: 16/01/1955
Place of Birth: Young-dong, Choong-buk Province

Under President Lee Myung-bak, South Korea is devoting more attention to Africa. In 2009, Lee pledged to double aid to Africa to US$200 million. Shortly after, Seoul hosted its second Korea-Africa Forum. High-level visits are on the increase; the latest is Shin Kak-soo’s tour of Congo-Kinshasa, South Africa, Ghana and Kenya in early January.

Shin, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, is looking to boost trade with the continent, which is increasing but lags behind rivals China and Japan. In South Africa, Shin and Deputy Minister of International Relations Ebrahim Ebrahim discussed the possibility of a free-trade agreement; with Deputy Minister of Economic Development Gwendoline Mahlangu-Nkabinde, he talked about the football World Cup, which South Korea co-hosted with Japan in 2002 and which South Africa held in 2010.

Born in 1955 in Young-dong, Shin attended Seoul National University, earning a bachelor’s degree in law and a master’s in international law. He joined the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1977, and much of his career has been focused on Asian relations and international organisations. He worked on international legal affairs and treaties until 1985, with a stint at Keio University and Tokyo University in Japan in 1983-84. Shin has served at South Korea’s missions to Japan, the United Nations and Sri Lanka. He has also taught at the Korea Military Academy and Sogang University, and was a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Asia-Pacific Research Center. His only full ambassadorship was to Israel (2006-2008). He took up his current post in July 2008.