A former presidential aide handling foreign affairs has been appointed as South Korea’s new top nuclear envoy.

A Foreign Ministry official revealed on Monday that Lee Do-hoon was tapped as the new special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, citing his expertise and experience regarding North Korea’s nuclear program and multilateral diplomacy.

Lee served as South Korean Ambassador to Serbia from 2014 to 2016, before he was appointed deputy to the senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs last September.

He also worked as the director-general of the ministry's North Korean Nuclear Affairs Bureau from 2012 to 2014, handling sanctions on the North following its third nuclear test. 

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