▲ Former Foreign Minister Gong Ro-myung gives a speech at a forum in Seoul, in this file photo taken Feb. 15, 2017. (Yonhap)

ex-foreign minister-death

Ex-FM Gong Ro-myung, 1st S. Korean ambassador to Soviet Union, dies at 94

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- Former Foreign Minister Gong Ro-myung, who played a key role in establishing South Korea's diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, has died, a think tank said Monday. He was 94.

Gong died Sunday, an official from the East Asia Foundation said, marking the loss of a widely respected veteran diplomat.

Gong is best known for his pivotal role in negotiations that led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and the Soviet Union in September 1990.

Gong went on to serve as Seoul's first ambassador to the Soviet Union following the normalization of ties. He was also the top envoy to Japan from 1993-94.

In 1994, Gong was named foreign minister by then President Kim Young-sam and served for two years. After retirement, he assumed senior advisory posts at key foreign policy think tanks in Korea.

Gong, a native of North Hamgyong Province in what is now North Korea, graduated from Seoul National University with a law degree and entered the foreign service in 1958.

A funeral parlor will be set up at Severance Hospital in Sinchon, and condolence visits will begin Tuesday.

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