Lee Yong-ho, First North Korean Ambassador to the U.K. Proceeded to His Post.

North Korea`s first ambassador to Britain Lee Yong-ho was reported to proceed to his post.

The British media reported that the North Korean ambassador came to London September 5 and met with Bill Rammell, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the U.K. September 24.

North Korea and the U.K. established diplomatic ties in December 2000 and David Slinn was sent to North Korea as a British ambassador. North Korea opened its British Embassy at outskirts of London and Lee Si-hong has served as an acting ambassador.

Ambassador Lee, North Korea`s renowned expert on U.S. issues, is a son of Lee Myung-jae, former ranking official at the Workers` Party. He finished an elite course of North Korea, graduating from Pyongyang Namsan High School and Pyongyang Foreign Language University`s English Department. He joined the North Korean Foreign Ministry in 1977 and has been in charge of negotiations with the U.S. from the early 1990s. He participated in the U.S.-North Korea negotiations in Geneva and accompanied First Deputy Chairman of the Defense Commission Cho Myung-rok when he visited the U.S. in October 2000.

Jei-Gyoon Park phark@donga.com