KOREA WHO

Yeo Han-koo is the Trade Minister (Head of Trade Negotiations) at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

He has been actively leading U.S.-Korea tariff negotiations and other key talks to deliver trade results for the Lee Jae-myung administration. He also oversees the implementation of major trade pledges such as the New Southern Policy and New Northern Policy, which the Lee Jae-myung government promised to pursue.

He was born on November 14, 1969, in Seoul.

He graduated from Kyungdong High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Seoul National University. He received a master’s degree in public administration from the Graduate School of Public Administration at Seoul National University. He completed the MPA program at Harvard Kennedy School and the MBA program at Harvard Business School.

After passing the 36th Higher Civil Service Examination, he mainly handled trade-related work at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (now the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy).

He was appointed the third Head of Trade Negotiations under the Moon Jae-in administration.

After the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, he left public office and served as a visiting professor at Seoul National University Business School, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in the United States, and a senior researcher at the Government Performance Lab at Harvard Kennedy School.

After the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration, he returned to public office as the Vice Minister-level Head of Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and also became the head of the U.S. Negotiations Task Force (TF).

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