It's embarrassing to return and stay...Ambassador to China is also vacant amid impeachment.

[Anchor]
Amid the impeachment scandal, President Yoon Suk Yeol's high school alumni, Ambassador Jeong Jae-ho to China, is reportedly coordinating his return to office within the year.

As the appointment of his successor, Ambassador Kim Dae-ki, is uncertain, a long-term vacancy of the ambassador to China is inevitable, but it is also embarrassing to stay and protect himself.

This is Beijing correspondent Kang Jeong-gyu.

[Reporter]
Jeong Jae-ho, ambassador to China, who was appointed as one of the first four-river ambassadors of the Yoon Suk Yeol government in August 2022.

With his inauguration, he emphasized the establishment of a high-level communication channel that does not break even in crises.

[Jaeho Jung / Ambassador to China (August 2022)] Rather than the number or frequency of communication channels, to maintain a communication path that does not close even during a crisis...]

It was also interpreted as a statement that emphasized that he was friends with President Yoon, an alumni of Chungam High School, but it worked negatively.

This is because the relationship between Korea and China has deteriorated as the Yoon Suk Yeol government jumped on the U.S. strategy to put pressure on China.

In April last year, President Yoon's remarks against a change in Taiwan's status quo by force also turned into a diplomatic issue.

To make matters worse, in June of that year, the story of Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming overlapped.

[Xing Haiming / Chinese Ambassador to Korea (June last year): Some people seem to be betting that the United States will win and that China will lose.]

South Korea-China relations have hit rock bottom, with both ambassadors said to have been shunned by the other government.

In the end, it seemed to be trying to rebound as the ambassador's simultaneous replacement caught the strand.

However, in the midst of sudden martial law and impeachment, everything went up in smoke again.

Amid uncertainty over the appointment of new Ambassador Kim Dae-ki, Ambassador Jeong is adjusting the date to return to office within the year.

The key is acting Han Deok-soo's 'order of attribution'.

I am concerned about the long absence of the ambassador to China.However, it is highly likely that he will only serve his term in office "in good name" if he stays.

The new Chinese ambassador to South Korea, Diving, will be appointed by the end of this year, and it is unclear to whom President Xi Jinping's credentials will be delivered.

I'm Kang Jeong-gyu from Beijing.