Choi Young-jin (, ''Choe Yeongjin''; born 29 March 1948) is a South Korean career diplomat who served as South Korean Ambassador to the United States from 2012 to 2013, when he was succeeded by Ahn Ho-young. He is also the former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

( UNOCI). He was appointed to the latter position by

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

in October 2007, as successor of Pierre Schori from Sweden. He has been succeeded by

Bert Koenders Albert Gerard Koenders (; born 28 May 1958) is a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2017. He is currently a professor at Leiden University and a special envoy of the World Bank. He i ...

from the Netherlands in August 2011. He is currently a Distinguished Professor at

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

's Graduate School of International Studies.

Early life and education

Choi Young-jin was born on 29 March 1948 in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. He obtained his master's and doctorate degrees in international relations from the

University of Paris I A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

(Panthéon-Sorbonne), respectively, in 1980 and 1985 and his bachelor's degree with distinction from the Department of International Relations,

in 1973. Prior to these studies, Choi had studied medicine at the Severance Medical College in Korea for four years.

Career

A career diplomat, before being appointed Special representative of the Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Choi has served in various capacities in the foreign service of the

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. From 2005 to 2007, he was the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations. In 2004, he was the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. In 2003, he served as Chancellor of Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS). Previously, he was Ambassador to Austria and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, and Permanent Representative to all international organizations in Vienna, Austria. Between 2000 and 2001, he served as Deputy Minister for Policy Planning and International Organizations, in charge of foreign policy planning, North Korean affairs, the United Nations system,

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing Weapon, weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, ...

and

non-proliferation Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons to additional countries, particularly those not recognized as nuclear-weapon states by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the ''Non-Proliferation Tr ...

, and democracy and human rights. From 1998 to 1999, Choi was Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations, responsible for overseeing planning and support for 17 peacekeeping operations, including those in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

Timor-Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. From 1995 to 1997, Choi was Deputy Executive Director,

Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) was an organization founded on March 15, 1995, by the United States, South Korea, and Japan to implement the 1994 U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework that froze North Korea's indigenous ...

(KEDO) in New York City. In this capacity, he oversaw a $5 billion project to construct two

light-water nuclear reactor The light-water reactor (LWR) is a type of thermal-neutron reactor that uses normal water, as opposed to heavy water, as both its coolant and neutron moderator; furthermore a solid form of fissile elements is used as fuel. Thermal-neutron reactor ...

s (LWR) in North Korea. He led negotiations within KEDO and with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to carry out the LWR project, visiting North Korea six times. In addition, he served on several other duties at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including as Director-General of the International Economic Affairs Bureau from 1994 to 1995, as First Senior Coordinator in the Ministry's Office of Policy Planning from 1991 to 1993, and as an Economic Counselor at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., from 1988 to 1990. In 2007, he was a resident diplomat scholar at the

Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. Fletcher is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations. As of 2017, the student bo ...

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

, Boston, Massachusetts.

Côte d'Ivoire

In his capacity as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Choi was mandated by the United Nations Security Council (resolution 1765 of 16 July 2007) to certify the Ivorian presidential elections, which took place on 31 October 2010 (first round) and 28 November 2010 (second round). His certification was the first ever in Africa and widely recognized as having been instrumental in dissipating the confusion regarding the results of the presidential elections. During the ensuing post-electoral crisis that lasted about four months from early December 2010 to early April 2011, Choi led the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) under trying circumstances as the outgoing president,

Laurent Gbagbo Koudou Laurent Gbagbo
, FPI website . ( G ...

, laid a siege to UNOCI Headquarters in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

, after having requested UNOCI to leave the country. UNOCI undertook military operations using

Mi-24 The Mil Mi-24 (; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity transport helicopter, troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and was introduced ...

armed helicopters to prevent Gbagbo's forces from using heavy weapons against the civilian population, in conformity with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1975 (2011). These air-strikes were the first ever in the history of

United Nations Peacekeeping Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role of the United Nations's Department of Peace Operations and an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is ...

and were also considered as pivotal in bringing about the dénouement of the Ivorian post-electoral crisis several days later.

Publication

*''East and West: Understanding the Rise of China'', iUniverse (2010)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Young-jin 1948 births Living people People from Seoul South Korean diplomats South Korean officials of the United Nations Special Representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ambassadors of South Korea to the United States Ambassadors of South Korea to Austria Ambassadors of South Korea to Slovenia Permanent representatives of South Korea to the United Nations Yonsei University alumni Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University alumni