About the author
Choi Young-jin
최영진 · 崔英鎭
Born in Kaesong in 1948, he came south with his family at the age of two. He studied medicine for four years before turning to international relations, graduated from Yonsei University in 1973, and took his master’s (1980) and doctorate (1985) in international relations at the University of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne).
A diplomat
- 1995–1997
- Deputy Executive Director, Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO)
- 1998–1999
- UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations
- 2002–2003
- Ambassador to Austria and Slovenia, Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna
- 2003
- Chancellor of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS)
- 2004
- Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- 2005–2007
- Ambassador to the United Nations
- 2007–2011
- Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Côte d’Ivoire, head of UNOCI
- 2012–2013
- Ambassador to the United States
From 2013 to 2019 he taught “A Study of Eastern and Western Civilizations” at Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Studies; the discussions with his students went into this book.
His earlier books on East and West
- 동양과 서양 (1993)
- Understanding the Rise of China (2000)
- East and West: Taoism vs Judaism (2002)