Kim Hyun-jong

Kim Hyun-jong (; born 27 September 1959 in Seoul) is a former Director General of Free Trade Negotiations under Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in.

Early life He holds three degrees from Columbia University: B.A. (1981) and M.A. (1982) in Political Science and a J.D. (1985) from Columbia Law School in New York. He also graduated from Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Massachusetts in 1977. In 2021 he was again reshuffled to President Moon's Special Advisor on foreign policy.

In June 2025, it was reported that Kim was under consideration to serve in South Korean President Lee Jae-myung's cabinet.

He also took various roles representing South Korean government at the WTO, UN and APEC.Moreover, he previously worked for Milbank LLP, Skadden, Yoon & Yang LLC (then-Kim Shin & Yu) and Samsung Electronics.

He taught international trade at South Korean universities such as Hongik University before working at the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies after working as a minister for trade.

Honors

Publications The Trend of Block Economy and NAFTA (1995) When are Government Loans Subsidies? Hanbo Steel and the Application of the WTO Subsidies Agreement (1998)