김숙 대사는 1978년 외교관 생활을 시작하여, 35년간 미국, 인도 캐나다 등 해외공관근무를 포함하여 외교 및 정보 분야에 근무한 직업외교관이다. 김 대사는 2011-2013년간 주유엔대사로 재직하며, 한국의 유엔 안보리 비상임이사국(2013-14) 진출 캠페인을 성공적으로 완수하였으며, 2013.2월 안보리 의장으로서 북한의 제3차 핵실험에 대한 안보리 논의를 이끌었다. 김 대사는 2012년 유엔의 지속가능개발정상회의(Rio+20) 준비위원회의 공동의장 및 유엔여성기구(UN Women)의 집행이사회 의장을 역임했다. 김대사는 공직생활 중 대부분을 한미동맹과 북한핵문제등에 쏟았다. 2009-2011년간 국가정보원 제1차장으로 재직하였고, 2008-2009년간 외교부 한반도평화교섭본부장으로서 6자회담 수석대표를 역임하였으며, 2004-2006년간 북미국장으로 재직중에는 초대 방위비분담교섭 대사를 역임하였다.. 2013년 퇴임 후에는 2014-2015년간 스탠포드대학교 아태연구소에서 방문학자로 활동하였다. 2019-2021년간 국가기후환경회의 전략기획위원장을 역임하였으며 2019년 4월이래 보다 나은 미래를 위한 반기문재단의 상임이사로 재직중이다.

Ambassador KIM Sook served with more than thirty-five years of experience in foreign service and intelligence, with key postings in Washington, D.C., New York, New Delhi, San Francisco, Toronto, and within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in Korea. He is well regarded for his expertise in Korea-US relations, Inter-Korean relations and the North Korean nuclear issue. Amb. Kim most recently served as the Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations from July 2011 to September 2013. Having overseen a successful campaign for nonpermanent membership to the Security Council (2013-14), he led the ROK delegation in the Security Council’s activities in 2013. As President of the Security Council for the month of February in 2013, Amb. Kim led the Council and deftly handled the Council’s action regarding North Korea’s ballistic missile launch and third nuclear test. Amb. Kim also served as a Co-Chair for the Bureau of the Preparatory Process of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and President of the Executive Board of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in 2012. Amb. Kim was First Deputy Director for the National Intelligence Service (NIS) from 2009, where he worked extensively on national security, including intelligence, preemption of security threats, and regional security issues. Amb. Kim has also served as Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs at MOFAT in Seoul and led the ROK delegation in the Six-Party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue in 2008. Amb. Kim began his diplomatic career in 1978. KIM received his education at Seoul National University, and has joined the South Korean diplomatic service since 1978. He has held a variety of diplomatic positions in the United States, Canada, and India. In May 2011, KIM became South Korea’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. KIM was also the President of the United Nations Security Council in February 2014. From 2014-15, KIM has served as a visiting Fellow at the Asia-Pacific Research Center at the Stanford University. He has served as the Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee in the National Council on Climate and Air Quality (NCCA) in 2019-2021. Since April 2019, he is serving as the Executive Director of Ban Ki-moon Foundation for a Better Future.