South Korea has appointed Paik Ji-ah, an envoy to the United Nations, as its new ambassador for international security affairs, the Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday.

Paik will handle the country's international coordination largely in efforts to fight terror and promote cyber security.

She joined the ministry in 1985 and has worked in Thailand and Malaysia.

She has also served as deputy permanent representative to the South Korean mission to the U.N. in New York from 2013.

Her predecessor Choi Sung-joo was tapped in September as the ministry's ambassador for evaluation. (Yonhap)