List of ambassadors of South Korea to the United States
| Ambassador of South Korea to the United States | |
|---|---|
| 주 미합중국 대한민국 특명전권대사 | |
 Emblem of South Korea | |
| Ministry of Foreign Affairs | |
| Style | Mr. Ambassador (informal) His Excellency (diplomatic) |
| Reports to | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Seat | 2450 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. |
| Appointer | The President |
| Term length | No fixed term |
| Formation | February 2, 1949 |
| First holder | Chang Myon |
| Website | overseas.mofa.go.kr/us-ko |
The South Korean ambassador to the United States (Korean: 주미대한민국대사; Hanja: 駐美大韓民國大使) is the chief diplomatic representative of the Republic of Korea accredited to the United States.
After the independence of Korea from Japanese rule in 1945, and the founding of Republic of Korea (South Korea) in 1948, South Korea immediately restored normal diplomatic relationship with the United States and has since been sending ambassadors to the United States.[1] Although Chang Myon is officially recorded as the first ambassador serving from February 1949, Chough Pyung-ok was recognized in August 1948 as the Special Representative of the President of South Korea with a personal rank of Ambassador. Chang replaced Chough in January 1949 in the same capacity, and was appointed as the first ambassador the following month.[2]
South Korea has so far sent twenty-four ambassadors to the United States, excluding 2 Chargé d'affaires a.i. (Koo Chong-whay and Oh Jay-hee).[2] As Chung Il-kwon served twice as the third and fifth ambassador, a total of twenty-three different people have served in the position.[3]
Reflecting the United States' significance to South Korea's diplomacy, almost all of these ambassadors have been chosen from elites in their respective fields. For instance, the four most recent ambassadors have all been either career diplomats who had served in the high levels of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (e.g., Ahn Ho-young, Choi Young-jin, and Lee Tae-sik), or in high government positions such as Prime Minister and head of the Finance Ministry (e.g., Han Duck-soo) before being appointed to Washington, D.C.
A complete list of ambassadors is provided below in the order of appointment. All held the title of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary while in office.[3]
Ambassadors[edit]
| # | Name | Took office | Left office | Appointer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chang Myon | 장면 | February 2, 1949 | February 1951 | Syngman Rhee |
| 2 | Yang You-chan | 양유찬 | April 30, 1951 | April 29, 1960 | |
| 3 | Chung Il-kwon | 정일권 | June 8, 1960 | September 1960 | |
| 4 | Chang Lee-wook | 장이욱 | December 5, 1960 | June 1961 | Yun Posun |
| 5 | Chung Il-kwon | 정일권 | June 30, 1961 | April 1963 | Park Chung Hee |
| 6 | Kim Chung-yul | 김정열 | June 14, 1963 | October 1964 | |
| 7 | Kim Hyun-chul | 김현철 | December 15, 1964 | October 1967 | |
| 8 | Kim Dong-jo | 김동조 | November 9, 1967 | December 1973 | |
| 9 | Hahm Pyong-choon | 함병춘 | February 1, 1974 | April 1977 | |
| 10 | Kim Yong-shik | 김용식 | May 13, 1977 | June 1981 | |
| 11 | Lew Byong-hion | 류병현 | September 21, 1981 | November 1985 | Chun Doo-hwan |
| 12 | Kim Kyung-won | 김경원 | November 9, 1985 | April 1988 | |
| 13 | Park Tong-jin | 박동진 | July 5, 1988 | March 1991 | Roh Tae-woo |
| 14 | Hyun Hong-choo | 현홍주 | April 11, 1991 | April 1993 | |
| 15 | Han Seung-soo | 한승수 | June 23, 1993 | December 23, 1994 | Kim Young-sam |
| 16 | Park Kun-woo | 박건우 | January 17, 1995 | April 27, 1998 | |
| 17 | Lee Hong-koo | 이홍구 | April 28, 1998 | August 1, 2000 | Kim Dae-jung |
| 18 | Yang Sung-chul | 양성철 | September 5, 2000 | April 16, 2003 | |
| 19 | Han Sung-joo | 한승주 | April 20, 2003 | February 15, 2005 | Roh Moo-hyun |
| 20 | Hong Seok-hyun | 홍석현 | February 22, 2005 | September 23, 2005 | |
| 21 | Lee Tae-sik | 이태식 | October 14, 2005 | February 27, 2009 | |
| 22 | Han Duck-soo | 한덕수 | March 9, 2009 | February 17, 2012 | Lee Myung-bak |
| 23 | Choi Young-jin | 최영진 | March 8, 2012 | May 28, 2013 | |
| 24 | Ahn Ho-young | 안호영 | June 5, 2013 | October 20, 2017 | Park Geun-hye |
| 25 | Cho Yoon-je | 조윤제 | November 14, 2017 | October 20, 2019 | Moon Jae-in |
| 26 | Lee Soo-hyuck | 이수혁 | October 25, 2019 | May 26, 2022 | |
| 27 | Cho Tae-yong | 조태용 | June 11, 2022 | March 29, 2023 | Yoon Suk Yeol |
| 28 | Cho Hyun-dong | 조현동 | April 14, 2023 | Incumbent | |
References[edit]
- ^ Some might argue that it was Kingdom of Joseon who established diplomatic relationship with the U.S. in 1882 and that as both South and North Korea stemmed from Kingdom of Joseon South Korea's diplomatic relations with the U.S. should begin in 1948 instead of 1882. Although this may be technically correct, as a matter of fact both South Korea and the U.S. consider their initial diplomatic relationship established in 1882, the evidence of which can be found from these websites: [1] Archived 2017-12-20 at the Wayback Machine and [2]
- ^ a b "Diplomatic Representation for South Korea". Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Protocol. 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
- ^ a b "주 미국 대한민국 대사관". overseas.mofa.go.kr.
See also[edit]
- Embassy of South Korea, Washington, D.C.
- Ambassador of the United States to South Korea
- Ambassadors of the United States
- Foreign relations of South Korea
- South Korea–United States relations
