The Council has two Patrons
Korea’s Ambassador to New Zealand, His Excellency Mr Lee Sang-jin
Date of Birth:
Feb. 28, 1962
Education:
Feb. 1988 B.A. in Law, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Mar. 1999 M.A. in Political Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
Career:
Nov. 1990 Passed the 34th High Civil Service Examination
Apr. 1991 ~ Nov. 2004 Worked at Seoul Metropolitan Government,
Office for Government Policy Coordination (OPC)
Nov. 2004 ~ May 2006 Visiting Scholar at the University of Tokyo, Japan
Jul. 2006 ~ Jan. 2007 Director, Performance Management Division, OPC
Jan. 2007 ~ Feb. 2009 First Secretary and Consul, Korean Embassy in Japan
Apr. 2010 ~ Apr. 2011 Director, Regulatory Coordination Division, OPC
Apr. 2011 ~ Sep. 2011 Director, Human Resources Division, OPC
Sep. 2011 ~ Dec. 2012 Director General for Intellectual Property Policy, OPC
Jan. 2014 ~ Sep. 2015 Director General for Civil Service Discipline and Investigation, OPC
Sep. 2015 ~ Feb. 2016 Deputy Minister for Economic Policy Coordination, OPC
Feb. 2016 ~ Nov. 2017 Head of the National Archives of Korea, Ministry of the Interior
Nov. 2017 ~ Mar. 2018 Director-General, Office of Past Affairs Management,
Ministry of the Interior and Safety
Mar. 2018 Deputy-Minister for Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
May 2020 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to New Zealand
Awards:
Jul. 2004: Service Merit Medal
Family:
Married with one daughter and one son
New Zealand’s Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Philip Turner
Philip Turner was appointed New Zealand Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in March 2018. He is concurrently Ambassador to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).
Philip has extensive experience as a diplomat and a business leader in North Asia, with a particular focus on North Asia. With the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, he served on postings to the New Zealand Embassies in Tokyo and Brussels. He then moved to Fonterra where he worked for 18 years in a variety of senior positions in Shanghai, Tokyo, Brussels and Auckland. He managed Fonterra’s business in China, and most recently was Director of Global Stakeholder Affairs at Fonterra in Auckland. Philip attended the University of Auckland in New Zealand where he graduated with a First Class Master of Arts in History. He speaks fluent French and Japanese, conversationalChinese, and is enjoying becoming acquainted with the Korean language. Philip is joined in Seoul by his partner Hiroshi Ikeda. Philip and Hiroshi are passionate about embracing diversity in our society.
