▲ This file photo shows Cho Tae-yong, who was named as President Yoon Suk Yeol's new security adviser. (Yonhap)

(profile) new national security adviser

(profile) S. Korea's top envoy to U.S. named as new security adviser

SEOUL, March 29 (Yonhap) -- Cho Tae-yong, who was tapped as President Yoon Suk Yeol's new national security adviser, is widely considered the right person to help bolster the Seoul-Washington alliance in light of his extensive career background.

Born in Seoul, Cho, 67, graduated from Seoul National University in 1979 and joined the foreign ministry after passing the state foreign service exam in 1980.

His career has primarily focused on U.S. affairs and North Korea's denuclearization.

Cho became the first chief of the ministry's North Korean Nuclear Affairs Bureau in 2004. He served as the country's deputy chief of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program at the time of the adoption of a deal ending the North's nuke programs on Sept. 19, 2005. In 2013, Cho became Seoul's top nuclear envoy.

In 2014, he became the first vice foreign minister in the Park Geun-hye administration and served as first deputy chief of the presidential National Security Office the following year.

In 2020, he was elected as a lawmaker for a proportional representation seat of the opposition Future Korea Party.

In June last year, President Yoon named him as the country's ambassador to the U.S. As Seoul's top envoy, Cho has focused on upgrading the primarily military alliance between Seoul and Washington into a more comprehensive one.

Yoon appears to name Cho as his new national security adviser in consideration of his career background and extensive network in the U.S. ahead of his state visit to the U.S. next month.

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