The United Kingdom’s outgoing ambassador to North Korea, Colin Crooks, will be the next ambassador to South Korea, multiple informed sources confirmed to NK News.

Crooks, a Korean-speaking career diplomat who has worked as the British ambassador to North Korea since Dec. 2018, will take up his new Seoul-based role in early 2022, an informed source said.

The U.K. was among the first countriesto temporarily close its Pyongyang embassy last year, amid concerns relating to North Korea’s strident COVID-19-related travel restrictions. Crooks and other staff have been based in London since the temporary closure led to their relocation in