South Korea has appointed Park Cheol-hee and Sim Seung-seob as ambassadors to Japan and Australia, respectively. Park, currently the president of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, is an expert in South Korea-Japan relations and served as director of the Institute for Japanese Studies at Seoul National University and a professor at the Graduate School of International Studies.

Sim served as Commander of the First Fleet, Chief of Personnel at the Naval Headquarters and Director-General for Strategic Planning at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, culminating in his role as Chief of Naval Operations. Both appointments are expected to strengthen South Korea’s diplomatic and defense relations with Japan and Australia, respectively.