The government on Tuesday appointed former Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuyoshi Umemoto as the new ambassador to the United Nations, while naming the current consul general in Hong Kong, Yuji Kumamaru, as the new ambassador to Cambodia.
Both appointments take effect Thursday.
Umemoto, 61, left the post of assistant chief Cabinet secretary only about a month into the job as the new Liberal Democratic Party-led government came to power in late December. The career diplomat has previously served as ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.