South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday named special envoys tasked with carrying his personal messages to the leaders of the United States, Japan, China and Russia.
The president's office said the envoys would depart soon after making arrangements for their trips. In his inaugural address last week, Moon said he would dispatch special envoys to the four nations at an early date, with a separate pledge to visit them for summit talks.
Hong Seok-hyun, a former head of South Korea's media group, JoongAng, will go to Washington. He served as ambassador to the United States in 2005.
Lee Hae-chan, a veteran politician who served as prime minister in 2004 under South Korea's late liberal president Roh Moo-hyun, was selected as special envoy to China.
Lawmakers Moon Hee-sang and Song Young-gil from the ruling Democratic Party will visit Japan and Russia, respectively. Cho Yoon-je, a Sogang University professor, will visit the European Union and Germany.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com