President Lee Jae-myung appointed Kang Chang-il, former ambassador to Japan, as senior vice chairman of the National Unification Advisory Council on Friday.
The position had been held by former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, who passed away in January this year.
Lee Kyu-yeon, senior presidential secretary for public communication, announced the appointment during a briefing at Chunchugwan.
Kang, the new senior vice chairman, is a former four-term National Assembly member from the Democratic Party of Korea, serving from the 17th to the 20th Assembly. He was appointed ambassador to Japan during the Moon Jae-in administration and currently serves as a distinguished professor at Halla University.
"As a historian with deep understanding of our modern history, he is a senior statesman who has promoted peace and cooperation beyond partisan lines," Lee said of Kang. "He is the right person to bring the value of integration to the unification discourse through his diplomatic experience."
Kim Gwi-ok, professor at Hansung University's Core Liberal Arts Department, was appointed as a standing commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Lee Chang-hoon, special professor at Seoul National University's Graduate School of Environmental Studies, was named chairman of the National Climate Crisis Response Committee. Lee previously served as president of the Korea Environment Institute and as a member of the Ministry of Environment's Central Environmental Policy Committee.
Kim Jin-oh, former president of CBS, was appointed vice chairman of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy, while Park Jin-kyung, secretary general of the Work and Leisure Culture Research Institute, was named standing commissioner.
