(LEAD) Yoon names ex-Vice FM Cho as ambassador to U.S.

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with details from para 2, photo)

SEOUL, May 17 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday named Rep. Cho Tae-yong, a former vice foreign minister, as South Korea's new ambassador to the United States, the presidential office said.

As a career diplomat, Cho of the ruling People Power Party had also served as South Korea's chief envoy for the North Korean nuclear issue and a deputy chief of the presidential office of national security.

A balanced strategist with expertise in U.S. and North Korean affairs, Cho joined the Foreign Ministry in 1980 and also served in various other posts, including as director-general of the North American affairs bureau.

Yoon also named Peck Kyong-ran, a professor of infectious diseases at Sungkyunkwan University, as new head of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

Peck joined Yoon's now-disbanded transition team and drew up new epidemic control plans against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Peck was recommended by Ahn Cheol-soo, a former presidential candidate who merged his campaign with Yoon ahead of the March 9 election.

kdh@yna.co.kr
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