Cho Myoung-gyon

Cho Myoung-gyon
조명균
Minister of Unification
In office
3 July 2017 – 8 April 2019
PresidentMoon Jae-in
Prime MinisterLee Nak-yeon
Preceded byHong Yong-pyo
Succeeded byKim Yeon-chul
Personal details
Born (1957-11-17) 17 November 1957 (age 67)
Uijeongbu, South Korea
Political partyindependent
Alma materSungkyunkwan University
Seoul National University
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Cho Myoung-gyon (Korean조명균; Hanja趙明均; born 17 November 1957) is a South Korean politician previously served as President Moon Jae-in's first Minister of Unification.

After passing the state exam in 1979, Cho spent most of his career at the Ministry of Unification.[1] He actively participated in multiple projects and negotiations with Pyongyang which resulted in enhanced Inter-Korean relations during Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations commended by then-Minister Jeong Se-hyun.[2][unreliable source?] He left public service upon the beginning of the new administration in 2008. Since then he completely distanced himself from politics before being appointed as Minister in 2017.[3]

During his term as Minister, Inter-Korean relations dramatically improved which was deteriorated after Kim and Roh administrations.

Cho Myoung-gyon meeting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

He holds two degrees - a bachelor's in statistics from Sungkyunkwan University and a master's in administration from Seoul National University.[4]

  1. ^ [프로필]조명균 통일부 장관 후보자. The Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). 2017-06-13. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  2. ^ 통일장관 후보자 조명균의 '화려한 귀환'. OhmyNews (in Korean). 2017-06-13. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  3. ^ "조명균 장관 어떻게 살아왔기에"...3無 인사평에 새삼 주목. 이뉴스투데이 (in Korean). 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  4. ^ [프로필] '남북회담 전문가' 조명균 통일부 장관 후보자. NewsPim (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-05-26.