Jong-shik Um

Jongsik Um held the positions of Vice Minister of Unification and Presidential Secretary on Unification under President Lee Myung-bak. He joined the Ministry of Unification in 1982 and served in various roles, including Director General of Policy Planning, Director General of Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation, and Deputy Assistant Minister for Inter-Korean Dialogue.

Mr. Um also served as a deputy head of the South Korean delegation to inter-Korean talks on energy supply and economic cooperation, as well as a member of the South Korean delegation to the Six-party Talks on the denuclearization of North Korea.

He received his B.A. from Yonsei University and his M.A. from Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Administration. He was a visiting scholar at Duke University’s Asian Pacific Studies Institute and the National Defense University of South Korea.