India chief of South Korea’s apex trade bodies KITA, KOCHAM moves to Seoul headquarters in new role
NEW DELHI: After a brief 3-year stint at the India office of Korea International Trade Association (KITA) in the capacity of Chief Representative, Hee-chul Jung, is all set to assume a new role of Director of Asia, Oceania Department, at the organization’s headquarters in Seoul.
With a widely established network of 13 domestic offices and 11 overseas branches in major cities across the world including New Delhi, KITA is a leading business organization of South Korea to assist its SMEs in gaining foreign market entry. Notably, KITA has contributed towards Korea’s achievement of 1 trillion dollars in trade volume to become one of the world’s economic superpowers.
Hee-chul Jung who doubled the responsibility as Secretary-General of Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in India (KOCHAM), completed his 3-year term early this month, would be joining the Seoul-based Headquarters by the January end. KOCHAM is a representative industry body of about 800 Korean companies in India.
Young-Ho Lee who would be succeeding the Hee-chul Jung is likely to assume the New Delhi office by the January end.
A postgraduate in Science in Electronic Commerce from Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper School of Business), Pittsburgh, PA, USA, Hee-chul Jung had joined the New Delhi office in January 2019.
However, during the Coviid-19 pandemic-struck years 2020 and 2021, which marked most of his tenure in India, Jung continued to work relentlessly to support Korean companies in India during this difficult time of slowdown and low business sentiments.
KOCHAM and KITA organized a number of seminars and workshops in India to extend support to Korean companies in India. One such event the ‘2020 KOCHAM Seminar & 2020 Government Budget Analysis’ event was organized in New Delhi in February 2020 just before the lockdown was announced in India. The event had attracted the participation of more than 100 representatives from about 70-80 Korean companies.
Also a Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) graduate in Political Science and Diplomacy, Jung had joined KITA in 1994.
Before his posting in India in 2019, he worked as the Chief Secretary, Office of Chairman at the KITA headquarters. Prior to this he also functioned as General Manager of KITA’s Eurasia Department.
His previous career span included his positions as procurement staff at COEX Expansion Project, Marketing and strategic planner of Exhibition and Conventions, Liaison officer for Asia-Africa Investment Technology Promotion Center of UNIDO, Staff at World Trade Center (WTC Seoul) secretariat, Member of Global working group in Korea e-Trade Facilitation Center, Korean representative for APEC Meetings, UN/CEFACT activities, and Deputy General Manager of KITA’s Brussels Center.
Jung was instrumental in organizing SPOEX, the largest sporting goods exhibition held in Seoul Korea, Business Roundtable, Forums, and Seminars with foreign countries, and also managed the State Visits and Ministerial Level Trade Delegations visiting overseas as part of his responsibilities.
As an individual, Hee-Chul Jung is admired by a score of Indian nationals, He developed friendships with a number of local natives, and would enjoy Indian delicacies besides trying Japanese cuisines.
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