The Cultural Heritage Administration on Thursday named O Soo-dong, former PR chief at the Korean Embassy in the United States, the new secretary-general of its affiliate body tasked with retrieving stolen national treasures from overseas.

“O Soo-dong has been appointed secretary-general of the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation. His term is three years untill April 2017,” the state-run CHA said in a press release.

O, 64, is a veteran cultural administrator and diplomat with more than three decades of experience working at government ministries and overseas diplomatic missions.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)