TEHRAN – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has shaken up 6 overseas ambassador posts, appointing new envoys to Iran, Germany, Turkey, Madagascar, Uruguay, and Ghana. 

Kim Jun-pyo, director general for North American affairs, will head the Korean Embassy in Iran. Yeol presented him with a letter of credentials at the presidential office in Seoul on Friday. 

Iran and South Korea have traditionally enjoyed friendly ties since the establishment of the Korean Republic in 1948. Ties between the two countries frayed in 2017 after Seoul froze about $7 billion of Iranian funds in South Korea, citing U.S. sanctions. 

South Korea unfroze the money in 2023. The two countries are now working to repair ties and both are seeking to boost cooperation in different fields.