Mr. Yu Myung-hwan took office as the 35th Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea on February 29, 2008.

In his inauguration speech, Minister Yu defined 'creative pragmatism' as "showing flexibility in details while sticking to the principles". 'Creative pragmatism' is the new catchphrase of the Lee Myung-bak Administration. He pledged to strengthen international cooperation based on the respect for universal values, such as democracy, market economy and human rights, through expansion of  contribution to the peace-keeping operations and official development assistance.

Minister Yu stressed that the Korean government would establish concrete action plans for 'pragmatic diplomacy' at an early stage. While he underscored the importance of the Korea-US alliance and its development reflecting history of Korea and its geopolitical status, Minister Yu noted that strengthening Korea's strategic partnership with the US would not weaken Korea's relationship with China. He stated that viewing the strengthening of Korea-US alliance and improving Korea's relationship with Japan, China and Russia as a zero-sum game is the remnants of the Cold War era and that a new diplomatic paradigm is needed to replace the decade-old mentality of the Cold War era. In addition, he mentioned that Korea should broaden its diplomatic horizon over the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia to other continents. Furthermore, establishment of strong diplomatic relationships with resource-abundant countries was stressed for stable supplies of energy resources. 

Minister Yu joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1973, and has served as Spokesperson of the Ministry(1992), Director-General of American Affairs Bureau(1996), and Minister(Deputy Chief of Mission) of Korean Embassy in the United States of America(1998). Besides, he worked for the Office of the President as Secretary to the President for Foreign Affairs in 1995. After he served as Korean Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the State of Israel and the Republic of the Philippines, he took office as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2005. Until recently, he has served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Japan since March 2007. 

Mr. Kwon Jong-rak, the former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Kenya(1999) and Ireland(2004), took office as the first Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Mr. Kim Sung-hwan, the former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Uzbekistan(2002) and the Republic of Austria and Permanent Representatives to the International Organizations in Vienna(2006) did as the second one.