| Im Jong-seok | |||||||||
| Office: | Chief of Staff to the President | ||||||||
| Term Start: | 10 May 2017 | ||||||||
| Term End: | 8 January 2019 | ||||||||
| President: | Moon Jae-in | ||||||||
| Successor: | Noh Young-min | ||||||||
| Birth Date: | 1966 4, df=y | ||||||||
| Birth Place: | Jangheung, South Jeolla Province, South Korea | ||||||||
| Party: | Democratic | ||||||||
| Alma Mater: | Hanyang University | ||||||||
| Module: |
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| Signature: | Im Jong-seok signature.svg | ||||||||
Im Jong-seok (; born 24 April 1966) is a South Korean politician and former Chief of Staff for Moon Jae-in currently serving as Moon's Special Advisor for Foreign Affairs and Special Envoy to UAE.[1] [2] Im served as Moon's chief of staff during the primary and 2017 presidential election.
Im previously served as vice/deputy mayor for political/state affairs under Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, a two-term member of the National Assembly, and secretary-general of the Democratic Party of Korea.[3] He was a prominent student activist in the pro-democracy movement during the 1980s. Im was head of the National Council of Student Representatives in 1989 and served three and a half years in prison for facilitating Lim Su-kyung's unauthorized visit to North Korea in violation of the National Security Law.[4]
Im supports engagement with North Korea.
Im was born in Jangheung, South Jeolla in 1966.[5] He is married with one daughter.