On June 26, President Alar Karis appointed Tanel Sepp as Estonia's new ambassador to South Korea. Sepp, who has worked as a diplomat for more than 20 years, told ERR show "Vikerhommik" that he knew in seventh grade that was what he would become.

"I don't know where I got the idea, but at one point in seventh grade I started going to school in a suit and a diplomat's cap and told my parents that I was going to be a diplomat," Sepp said.

The job itself was not exactly how he imagined when he was in seventh grade. "I think that's the way it is with a lot of dreams – at some point you start to live them and then there are different sides to it, some more pleasant, some less pleasant, but at the end of my career choice has been the right one for me."

A diplomat, he says, has to have a keen interest in what is happening in the world.

"An Estonian diplomat who is out there is involved in politics, economics, consular affairs and culture. The scope of activities is very wide, so you have to be ready to do different things and often change quickly," Sepp said, adding that for him, the charm of the diplomatic profession is the constant moving and learning of new things. "It keeps you fresh."

Tanel Sepp has previously served on missions to Luxembourg, Brussels, Kabul, Washington and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In his view, the latter was the most difficult place to work as an Estonian diplomat.

"The way I went there was that in the morning I looked at the suitcases and the task was to set up an Estonian representation, but we had no support network or anything. Going to a completely new place and culture and then setting up and running an Estonian representation there was definitely the most difficult part," he said.

The Coronavirus pandemic also happened at that time. "I had thoughts of starting to explore Africa, traveling, exploring different places, but a lot of borders were closed and I was stuck there for a while."

Sepp will begin his new role in South Korea in August.

His main focus there will be on business diplomacy. "After all, the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) have bought a lot of different things from South Korea. My task is to build up this portfolio of business diplomacy even further," he said.

Sepp also plans to diversify the business activities conducted between Estonia and South Korea. "The embassy has a business center there, where we can help Estonian companies that want to enter the Korean market, for example, or we can arrange meetings at our center for Korean people who are interested in Estonia."

Sepp is not yet fluent in Korean but is planning to learn. "There's even a beginners' course in Korean available in Tallinn, but my current job has meant that I've been on a lot of missions and haven't been able to go on the course.

Sepp is not yet fluent in Korean but is planning to learn. "There's even a beginners' course in Korean available in Tallinn, but my current job has meant that I've been on a lot of missions and haven't been able to go on the course. However, I'm definitely going to take language courses when I'm there. We'll see how much I can learn, but if you know even basic phrases, if you can make small talk, then that's great for everyone," he said.

"My own little secret plan is to learn a few K-pop songs in a couple of years and be able to sing karaoke, because the karaoke culture there is really powerful and can also help you get a little closer to the hearts of Koreans."

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