Martin David Uden (born 28 February 1955) is a former senior British diplomat, specialising in Korea. He is a graduate of

Queen Mary College Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London. Today, ...

in law and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1978 at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

. He has worked for the

British Diplomatic Service His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Civil Service, which deals ...

, the UN,

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

and

QMUL Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

. He was British Consul-General in San Francisco from 2003 to 2007,

British Ambassador to South Korea The British ambassador to South Korea is in charge of the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to South Korea. The official title is His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (ROK). History Under the Imperial Chinese tributar ...

from 2008 to 2011 and Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos in 2015.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Uden joined the FCO in 1978 and had postings in Korea, West Germany and Canada. As Head of Post, he was firstly British Consul-General in San Francisco, and then Ambassador to South Korea. During the

London Olympics London Olympics or London Games may refer to: * 1908 Summer Olympics, Games of the IV Olympiad * 1944 Summer Olympics, Games of the XIII Olympiad, cancelled due to World War II * 1948 Summer Olympics, Games of the XIV Olympiad * 2012 Summer Olympi ...

, he was managing director of the British Business Embassy at

UKTI UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) was a UK Government department working with businesses based in the United Kingdom to assist their success in international markets, and with overseas investors looking to the UK as an investment destination. It wa ...

and then took leave from the FCO to be the co-ordinator of the

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at the

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which deals with

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

regarding the sanctions against that country established by

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874 was adopted unanimously by the United Nations United Nations Security Council, Security Council on 12 June 2009.

. He was Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Nigeria, briefly in 2015 before retiring from the Diplomatic Service.

Subsequent career

He worked for

in Hong Kong from 2015 to 2017 and subsequently took on part-time roles in the UK, including Chairman of the British Korean Society (2018–24), International Adviser to

(from 2018), Member of the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives (from 2019) and

Trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

(later vice-chair) of the

United Society Partners in the Gospel United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) is a United Kingdom-based charitable organisation (registered charity no. 234518). It was first incorporated under Royal Charter in 1701 as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Pa ...

(from 2018). He became President of the British Korean War Veterans' Association in 2019, succeeding

Bill Speakman William Speakman-Pitt, VC (21 September 1927 – 20 June 2018), known as Bill Speakman, was a British Army soldier and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British an ...

, VC. He is engaged in compiling biographies and collecting photographs of the over 800 British servicemen buried in the UN Memorial Cemetery in Korea in Busan. Uden carried one of the Olympic torches as part of the 2012

Olympic torch relay The Olympic torch relay is the ceremonial relaying of the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece, to the site of an Olympic Games. It was introduced at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, as a way for Adolf Hitler to highlight the Nazi claim of Arya ...

, expressing a desire that it "would be symbolic of the many connections between the UK and Korea, two great sporting nations".Paul Bradsha
"The Korean connection: diplomats carrying the Olympic torch" 22 June 2012
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Publications

* *

Offices held

References

Living people 1955 births Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to South Korea {{SouthKorea-stub