President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday tapped Ahn Chong-ghee, South Korea's ambassador to Belgium and the European Union as second vice foreign minister, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.

Ahn will replace Cho Tae-yul, who was named last month as the country's new envoy to the United Nations.

"(Park) picked Ahn as he is well suited to smoothly carry out the second vice minister's duties, such as handling the North Korean nuclear issue and protecting overseas Koreans, given his outstanding diplomatic skills and managerial capabilities," Jung Youn-kuk, presidential spokesman, said in a statement.

Entering diplomatic service in 1982, Ahn has served in various overseas missions, including those in the United States, China and Bolivia. He has headed the embassy in Belgium since early last year. (Yonhap)