Korea
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Chiefs of Mission for Korea
NOTE TO READERS
Updates to the Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission database are currently suspended. For information about the Department’s current and recent leadership, we recommend visiting the Department of State homepage’s Biographies of Senior Officials and List of U.S. Ambassadors.
Notice posted on January 12, 2024.
Last
updated March 14, 2024.
Chiefs of Mission
- Lucius Harwood Foote (1826–1913)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Korea, May 20, 1883–February 19, 1885
- William Harwar Parker (1826–1896)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, Korea, June 12, 1886–September 3, 1886
- Hugh Anderson Dinsmore (1850–1930)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, Korea, April 13, 1887–May 26, 1890
- Augustine Heard (1827–1905)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, Korea, May 26, 1890–June 27, 1893
- John Mahelm Berry Sill (1831–1901)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, Korea, April 30, 1894–September 13, 1897
- Horace Newton Allen (1858–1932)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, Korea, September 13, 1897–October 1, 1901
- Horace Newton Allen (1858–1932)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Korea, October 1, 1901–June 9, 1905
- Edwin Vernon Morgan (1865–1934)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Korea, June 26, 1905–November 17, 1905
- John Joseph Muccio (1900–1989)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, April 20, 1949–September 8, 1952
- Ellis Ormsbee Briggs (1899–1976)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 25, 1952–April 12, 1955
- William Sterling Byrd Lacy (1910–1979)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 12, 1955–October 20, 1955
- Walter Cecil Dowling (1905–1977)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 14, 1956–October 2, 1959
- Walter Patrick McConaughy Jr. (1908–2000)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, December 17, 1959–April 12, 1961
- Samuel David Berger (1911–1980)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 27, 1961–July 10, 1964
- Winthrop Gilman Brown (1907–1987)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 14, 1964–June 10, 1967
- William James Porter (1914–1988)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 23, 1967–August 18, 1971
- Philip Charles Habib (1920–1992)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 10, 1971–August 19, 1974
- Richard Lee Sneider (1922–1986)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 18, 1974–June 21, 1978
- William Henry Gleysteen Jr. (1926–2002)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 24, 1978–June 10, 1981
- Richard Louis Walker (1922–2003)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 12, 1981–October 25, 1986
- James Roderick Lilley (1935–2009)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 26, 1986–January 3, 1989
- Donald Phinney Gregg (1927–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 27, 1989–February 27, 1993
- James T. Laney (1927–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 2, 1993–February 5, 1996
- Richard A. Christenson (1945–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, February 1996–December 1997
- Stephen Warren Bosworth (1939–2016)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, December 15, 1997–February 10, 2001
- Thomas C. Hubbard (1943–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 12, 2001–April 17, 2004
- Christopher Robert Hill (1952–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 1, 2004–April 12, 2005
- Alexander Russel Vershbow (1952–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 17, 2005–September 18, 2008
- Doris Kathleen Stephens (1953–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 6, 2008–October 23, 2011
- Sung Y. Kim (1960–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 25, 2011–October 24, 2014
- Mark William Lippert (1973–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 21, 2014–January 20, 2017
- Marc E. Knapper (?–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, January 20, 2017–July 7, 2018
- Harry B. Harris Jr. (?–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 25, 2018–
Other Nominees
- Lucius Harwood Foote (1826–1913)
- Minister Resident/Consul General: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned on January 28, 1885, after confirmation. Declined appointment when the grade of the Mission was lowered.
- William O’Connell Bradley (1847–1914)
- Minister Resident/Consul General: Declined appointment.