A trusted confidant of Pres. Moon chosen as a special envoy

A trusted confidant of Pres. Moon chosen as a special envoy. March. 05, 2018 07:54. by Sang-Jun Han alwaysj@donga.com.
It is quite a surprise that President Moon Jae-in named Yun Kun-young, a senior Cheong Wa Dae official, as a special envoy to North Korea. Unlike other candidates for the delegation, which includes National Security Council chief Chung Eui-yong, National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon and Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung, Yun stayed in the background when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong and Kim Yong Chul, vice chairman of the Workers’ Party Central Committee, visited to the South. The choice of Yun indicates what a trusted confidant of the president he is.

Yun, who served as presidential secretary for political affairs during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, has been closely supporting Moon since he entered politics in 2012. Yun was an aide to the then-lawmaker Moon, a special adviser to the then-party leader Moon and a vice secretary of the situation room of the campaign camp when Moon was a presidential candidate.

President Moon’s inclusion of Chung and Yun in the delegation is construed as sending a message to the North that all his internal and external aides are included. Yun is likely to be in charge of managing the situation and communicating with the presidential office. “Yun is chosen as the special envoy because he has long been tasked with managing domestic and inter-Korean situations,” said Cheong Wa Dae. In fact, every morning, Yun puts together all reports from the National Intelligence Service, prosecutors and police, and prepares a situation report for the president.