Sung Yong Kim ( ko, 김성용; born 1960) is an American diplomat of Korean descent serving as the

United States Special Representative for North Korea Policy North Korea and the United States have no formal diplomatic relations. Sweden acts as the protecting power of United States interests in North Korea for consular matters. Current office holders President Joe Biden announced on May 21, 2021 t ...

since 2021, and previously from 2014 to 2016. He has also served as the acting

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs is the head of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs within the United States Department of State. The assistant secretary guides operation of the U.S. diplomatic estab ...

from January to June 2021. In 2008, Kim was appointed by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

as the U.S.

Special Envoy Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

for the

Six-Party Talks The six-party talks aimed to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns as a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program. There was a series of meetings with six participating states in Beijing: * China * Japan * North Korea ...

. He later served in the

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

and Trump administrations as the Ambassador to South Korea from 2011 to 2014 and as the Ambassador to the Philippines from 2016 to 2020. In 2020, Kim was appointed by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

as Ambassador to Indonesia.

Early life and education

Sung Kim was born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, South Korea, in 1960 to a South Korean diplomat and moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1973 following his father's posting in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. Kim grew up in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and is a graduate of

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

(BA, 1982),

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Catholic university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

of the

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

( JD, 1985), and the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

(

LL.M A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

). He also holds an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the

Catholic University of Korea The Catholic University of Korea (hangul : 가톨릭대학교 hanja : ) is a private Roman Catholic institution of higher education in South Korea. It was established in 1855. The Catholic University of Korea operates campuses in Seoul and in the ...

Professional career

Before joining the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carry ...

at the State Department, Kim worked as

public prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

at the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. He then worked as Staff Assistant in the

Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs In the United States Government, the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP, originally the Office of Chinese Affairs) is part of the United States Department of State and is charged with advising the Secretary of State and Under Secre ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Kim was then assigned to United States Embassy in Seoul and worked as the Chief of Political Military Affairs. He then served as a Political Officer in

, Japan. His other assignments were to

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. Back in Washington, he was appointed Director of the Office of Korean Affairs and served in the position from August 2006 to July 2008. On July 31, 2008, he was appointed Special Envoy for the Six-Party talks and accorded the rank of an ambassador after confirmation of nomination by the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

United States Ambassadorship

Ambassador to South Korea

On June 24, 2011, President Obama nominated Kim to be the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea. However, Kim's nomination stalled after U.S. Senator Jon Kyl placed a hold on Kim's nomination over concerns not with Kim but with U.S. policy toward North Korea. On October 13, 2011, Kyl lifted his hold on Kim's nomination and the Senate confirmed Kim by

unanimous consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a prop ...

. Kim completed his assignment to South Korea in late October 2014 and returned to the United States, where he was expected to continue to work on diplomacy involving East Asia. Mark Lippert was sworn in to succeed Kim as ambassador on October 24, 2014, in Washington, D.C. In May 2014, near the end of his tenure, Kim was honored by the Asia Society for his service in Korea. Jonathan Karp, executive director of Asia Society, said Kim has done a lot to advance relations between the U.S. and Korea as a representative of the Obama administration. He was also named an honorary citizen of Seoul by Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon who said to Kim "Time flies so quickly. I must say I'm sad you have to return to your country... Even after you leave Korea for your next post, I ask of you that, as an honorary citizen of Seoul, you continue to have special interests in and affection for the city of Seoul and for Korea." In response, Kim said "It is after all my city of birth and the place I have always considered to be my second home."

Ambassador to the Philippines

On May 19, 2016, U.S. President Obama nominated Kim to replace Philip Goldberg as the U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 28, 2016, and was sworn in by Secretary of State

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

at the Department of State on Thursday, November 3, 2016. Kim arrived in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

on December 3, a month after he was sworn in, and presented his credentials to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on December 6. Kim, while Ambassador to the Philippines, led a delegation of American diplomats to hold talks with North Korean officials in

Panmunjom Panmunjom, also known as Panmunjeom, now located in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea or Kaesong, North Hwanghae Province, North Korea, was a village just north of the ''de facto'' border between North and South Korea, where the 1953 Korea ...

in late May 2018. These talks were in regards to the upcoming summit between

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and Kim Jong-un.

Ambassador to Indonesia

On July 10, 2019, the White House announced that he will be appointed to be Ambassador to Indonesia. On August 6, 2020, his nomination was confirmed by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

. He was appointed on August 31, 2020 and assumed office in October 2020.

U.S. special envoy for North Korea

President Joe Biden announced on May 21, 2021, that he will serve as the U.S. special envoy for

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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

Foreign honors

*: **

PHI Order of Sikatuna 2003 Grand Cross BAR

Grand Cross ''(Datu)'' of the

Order of Sikatuna The Order of Sikatuna ( fil, Orden ng Sikatuna) is the national order of diplomatic merit of the Republic of the Philippines. It is conferred upon individuals who have rendered exceptional and meritorious services to the Republic of the Philippin ...

(GrCS) (8 September 2020)

Personal life

Kim is married to Jae Eun Chung, with whom he has two daughters. He speaks

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Sung 1960 births Living people 21st-century American diplomats Alumni of the London School of Economics Ambassadors of the United States to Indonesia Ambassadors of the United States to the Philippines Ambassadors of the United States to South Korea American prosecutors George W. Bush administration personnel Loyola Law School alumni Obama administration personnel People from Seoul Lawyers from Los Angeles South Korean emigrants to the United States United States Department of State officials University of Pennsylvania alumni United States Special Envoys United States Foreign Service personnel