Alastair Morgan's career in government started in 1985 with the DTI (Department for Trade and Industry) and his appointments have included Director of Operations at the Invest in Britain Bureau. 

Subsequently he was our Counsellor for Trade Policy and Director of Inward Investment at the British Embassy in Tokyo where he had a spell on loan to the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

He was seconded to the British Foreign & Commonwealth office (FCO) leading to distinguished service as Commercial Counsellor and Director of Trade & Investment for China at the British Embassy in Beijing from 2007 to 2010 and as British Consul-General in Guangzhou (China) from 2010 to 2014.

From 2015 to 2018 Alastair was British Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, stationed in Pyongyang.

From 2019 to 2021 he was the appointed regional security expert and Coordinator of the UN 1874 Panel of Experts on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea sanctions.

Currently he is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow in the Department of War Studies, at the Centre for Science and Security Studies (CSSS) of Kings College London, and a Tokyo College Ushioda Fellow of the University of Tokyo, affiliated with Tokyo University's Graduate School of Public Policy.

Alastair was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the New Honours for 2019.