Amb. Shin Bongkil is the President of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS) at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy. He was the inaugural Secretary-General of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat of China, Japan, and Korea (2011-2013). Since joining the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1978, he was mainly involved in issues related to North Korea, China and Japan and visited North Korea quite a few times during the KEDO (The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization) mission. His latest posts include Special Advisor at the Office of Planning for the North Korean Light-Water Reactor Project (2002-2003), Spokesperson for the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2003-2004), Minister at the Korea Embassy in Beijing, China (2004-2007), Ambassador to Jordan (2007-2010), Ambassador for International Economic Cooperation (2010-2011), and Ambassador for Northeast Asian Regional Cooperation (2013-2014). Amb. Shin graduated from Seoul National University with a B.A. in international relations, and was the editor-in-chief of the University Weekly Newspaper. He studied Chinese at Beijing University and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Korean Studies in Korea.