Deputy Director-General Choi Bong-kyu was born in Busan, Korea, on February 18, 1968. Since DDG Choi entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1994, he has worked as a diplomat for the past 24 years. As a diplomat, DDG Choi is an expert in Korea-Japan relations. Upon completion of his diplomatic training at Keio University in Japan, he worked at the Korean Embassy in Japan as first secretary in 2002, and was later dispatched to the same Embassy as counselor in 2009. DDG Choi served as the director of Northeast Asian Division 1 in 2012, followed by his work as consul general at the Korean Embassy in China commencing in 2013. Currently, he is in charge of trilateral cooperation as the deputy director-general of the Northeast Asian Affairs Bureau. The three countries account for almost one-fifth of the entire GDP across the world, and are therefore a very important region in terms of economy. DDG Choi Bong-kyu continues to exert his utmost efforts to strengthen cooperation in Northeast Asia.