Moon Appoints Former Chief Of Staff Im As Special Adviser For UAE

President Moon Jae-in on Monday named his former chief of staff, Im Jong-seok, as a new special advisor for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said

SEOUL, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Jan, 2019 ) :President Moon Jae-in on Monday named his former chief of staff, Im Jong-seok, as a new special advisor for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.

The appointment comes less than two weeks after the former ruling party lawmaker stepped down as Moon's chief of staff.

Im is said to have formed a special relationship with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan when he traveled to the UAE as a special envoy of Moon in late 2017 on a fence-mending mission.

Im "is expected to greatly contribute to our national interest by solidifying the trust and cooperative relationship between the two countries as a special adviser on UAE, as he visited the UAE as a special envoy of the president while serving as the presidential chief of staff," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said of the appointment.

The president also named his former assistant for political affairs, Han Byung-do, as his new special adviser on Iraq.

The Cheong Wa Dae spokesman said Han has served as the chairman of a South Korea-Iraq Friendship Foundation since 2009.

Han stepped down as the senior secretary to the president for political affairs earlier this month.