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ndonesia has always been an important country for South Korea because of the strategic partnership between the two. In line with this partnership, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has appointed his deputy foreign minister as the country’s new ambassador to Indonesia.

Kim Young-sun, the South Korean ambassador-designate to Indonesia, has already arrived in Jakarta, the South Korean Embassy in Jakarta announced.

“Ambassador Kim Young-sun arrived in Jakarta on March 28, 2011,” South Korean Embassy spokesman Kim Hyun Ki told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

The new ambassador will soon submit his credentials to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

South Korea, one of the largest economies in Asia, is one of the main destinations for Indonesia’s exports. According to the Indonesian Central Statistics Agency (BPS), last year the bilateral trade between the two countries leaped to US$20.27 billion, a 57 percent surge from $12.88 billion in 2009. Indonesia exported $12.57 billion worth of goods to South Korea in 2010 and imported $7.70 billion worth of goods from Seoul.

South Korea is also an important provider of foreign direct investment to Indonesia. Last year, South Korea’s realized investment in Indonesia was $328 million.

Besides trade and investment, Indonesian youngsters have recently been showing a great interest in Korean culture, be it pop, rock, soap operas or Korean delicacies. “There is an increasing interest in Korean culture in Indonesia. I am very glad that South Korea will be opening its cultural center in Jakarta soon. I want to know more about Korean pop stars,” Sandra Dewi, a student and fan of Korean boy band Shiinee, told the Post.

Prior to coming to Jakarta, ambassador-designate Kim used to work as the deputy foreign minister as well as the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s chief spokesperson in Seoul. Between 1991 and 1993 he worked at the Office of the President as assistant secretary.

Kim, a postgraduate in political science from the Graduate School of Keio University in Tokyo, joined the South Korean Foreign Affairs Ministry in November 1977. As a rising star, Kim began his overseas stint as second secretary in the US in 1984. He also worked in Israel, Egypt, Japan and Lebanon. In 2003, Kim was appointed South Korea’s ambassador to Lebanon in 2003.

Kim, who is married and has a son, speaks fluent Korean, English and Japanese.