Byung-se YUN served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea from March 2013 to June 2017—the longest tenure since 1981. Prior to this, he held several key positions, including Deputy National Security Adviser, Senior Coordinator at the National Security Council and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. A career diplomat with 37 years of experience, his overseas assignments included postings in the U.S., the United Nations (New York and Geneva), Singapore, and Australia.

Mr. Yun earned his law degree from Seoul National University and a Master’s degree from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. He was a visiting professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Sogang University in Seoul from 2009 to early 2013.

He is currently the Chairman of the Seoul International Law Academy (SILA) and of the Global Commission on Responsible AI in the Military Domain (GC-REAIM). He is a board member of the Korea Peace Foundation, as well as Chair of the NEAR Global Survey Project. He is also a regular columnist for the Korea JoongAng Daily and The Korea Times. He is the co-author of “Korea-US-China Trilateral Relations in the Xi Jinping Era” published by Rowman & Littlefield in November 2024.