South Korean President Moon Jae-in's on Wednesday nominated a former national security adviser who was partly blamed for a failed summit between North Korea and the United States in 2019 as the country's next foreign minister.
The nomination of Chung Eui-yong, 74, to replace Kang Kyung-wha as foreign minister was seen as a bid to help revive stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea, just hours before Joe Biden takes office as the U.S. president.
Chung had sought to mediate between the two countries as Moon's top security adviser, making a surprise announcement on the White House lawn in March 2018 that U.S. President Donald Trump would hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.