Mr. Joong-Keun Kim retired from the government in 2012 after thirty-some years of diplomatic service. Having served as standing auditor of the IBK Insurance until March, 2015, he now works for a private company as an executive advisor. He concurrently serves as a policy advisor to the Minister of Defense and as an auditor of the Jeju Peace Institute. His recent responsibilities at the government were the Ambassador to India, the Ambassador to Singapore and the Deputy Minister for Trade and Economy, MOFAT. As deputy minister and chief negotiator of the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement, he signed the agreement in goods in 2006. He had served in the Low Water Reactor (LWR) construction site in North Korea for two years as a Representative of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO). His experience in North Korea stimulated him to study the subject of security issues in Northeast Asia with special reference to North Korea. Then, he researched the issues at the Institute of Studies of Diplomacy, Georgetown University as an associate and taught on the subject as adjunct professor at the graduate school of Korea University and that of Sogang University, respectively. He graduated from the Trade Department of the Seoul National University and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1978.