H.E. Dr. Youngki Hong is the Ambassador for Polar Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign of the Republic of Korea. He is a career diplomat who joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1991. He recently served as Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the State of Kuwait from 2018 to 2021. He served as Director General for International Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dealing with G20, APEC, and other major global economic issues between 2017 and 2018. In 2017, he participated in the last round of negotiations for the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean(CAOFA). He also served as Deputy Director General for Bilateral Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and worked as Director for Trade Dispute Settlements in the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, handling WTO litigations with foreign trading partners. For a long time, he actively participated in important trade negotiations including negotiations for Korea-US FTA, Korea-Canada FTA, Korea-Australia FTA, and Korea-New Zealand FTA. He participated in negotiations for the WTO DDA Non-Tariff Barrier as a counselor of the Korean Mission to WTO in Geneva between 2009 and 2012. He received his Ph.D. in international economic law and M.A. in law from Korea University and his B. A in economics from Seoul National University.