Ambassador KIM Sook began his diplomatic career in 1978 and served with more than thirty-five years of experience in foreign service and intelligence, with key postings in Washington, D.C., New York, New Delhi, San Francisco, Toronto, and within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in Korea. He is well regarded for his expertise in Korea-US relations, inter-Korean relations, and the North Korean nuclear issue. Amb. Kim most recently served as the Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations from July 2011 to September 2013. Having overseen a successful campaign for non-permanent membership to the Security Council (2013-14), he led the ROK delegation in the Security Council’s activities in 2013. As President of the Security Council in February 2013, Amb. Kim led the Council and deftly handled the Council’s action regarding North Korea’s ballistic missile launch and third nuclear test. Amb. Kim also served as a Co-Chair for the Bureau of the Preparatory Process of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and President of the Executive Board of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in 2012. KIM was also the President of the United Nations Security Council in February 2014. From 2014-15, KIM has served as a visiting Fellow at the Asia-Pacific Research Center at the Stanford University. He has served as the Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee in the National Council on Climate and Air Quality (NCCA) in 2019-2021. Since April 2019, he has been serving as the Executive Director of the Ban Ki-moon Foundation for a Better Future.