China names senior UN envoy Dai Bing as new South Korean ambassador
Dai, 57, has no background in East Asian affairs, but his experience of international issues may be an asset, analysts say
The appointment, announced by the Chinese embassy in Seoul on Friday, fills a vacancy of more than five months since the previous ambassador departed.
Dai takes over at a time of growing geopolitical complexity, and some observers believe that his insight into broader international trends would give him an edge in tackling challenges.
“This is the first time I have been stationed in South Korea,” Dai said upon his arrival in Seoul on Friday. “I’m willing to strengthen communication with all sectors in South Korea, make new friends and good friends.”
Dai, 57, has had a quite different career path to most of his predecessors, who specialised in East Asian affairs. He is only the second Chinese ambassador to Seoul not to have spent time in the Korean peninsula or in Japan before.
He began in 1995 at the foreign ministry’s African affairs department, with spells at the embassies in South Africa and Singapore before becoming director general of the same department in 2017. He was assigned the UN role in 2020.
