Update: The headline has been amended to better reflect Choe’s position

Two senior female diplomats will be at the center of any future North Korean nuclear negotiations: Choe Son Hui, the North Korean foreign ministry’s deputy U.S. bureau head, and Kang Kyung-hwa, the South Korean foreign minister.

Both began their diplomatic careers as interpreters. Kang rose to become the Director General of International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA),then moved to the United Nations to head its human rights and humanitarian offices, before returning home to become South Korea’s first female foreign minister under President Moon Jae-in this