South Korea appointed a former senior official of the National Intelligence Service as its new ambassador to Thailand in a regular personnel reshuffle that affected two other ambassadorial posts, officials said Friday.

Jeon Jae-man, a seasoned diplomat who recently served as first deputy director of the NIS, was named ambassador to Thailand and Lee Yun-young, a senior trade official, was appointed to head the embassy in Bangladesh, the ministry said in a statement.

Baek Seong-taek, a former professor at the National Diplomatic Academy, was appointed South Korea’s first ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Jakarta.

South Korea became the third non-ASEAN nation to name an ambassador to the 10-member regional bloc and will soon launch a permanent mission dedicated to ASEAN. (Yonhap News)