| Embassy of South Korea, Washington, D.C. | |
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| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Address |
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| Coordinates | 38°54′52.8″N77°3′16.7″W / 38.914667°N 77.054639°W /38.914667; -77.054639 |
| Ambassador | Cho Hyun-dong |
| Website | http://usa.mofa.go.kr |
| Embassy of South Korea, Washington, D.C. | |
| Hangul | 주미국대한민국대사관 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 駐美國大韓民國大使館 |
| Revised Romanization | Ju Miguk Daehanminguk daesagwan |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chu Miguk Taehanmin'guk taesagwan |
TheEmbassy of the Republic of Korea in Washington, D.C. is thediplomatic mission ofSouth Korea to theUnited States. Its main chancery is located at 2450Massachusetts Avenue,Northwest, Washington, D.C., in theEmbassy Row neighborhood.[1] The current ambassador isCho Hyun-dong.[2]
Due to the rather small size of its main building, the embassy has an annex nearby inArlington County, Virginia.[3] It also occupies two additional buildings close to its chancery to house its Consular Section and a Korean Cultural Center.[2] The ambassador's residence is located in the nearby Spring Valley neighborhood, close to American University.[citation needed]
The embassy operatesconsulates general inAtlanta,Boston,Chicago,Honolulu,Houston,Los Angeles,New York City,San Francisco andSeattle. In addition to those consulates general, the embassy also maintains consulates inAnchorage,[4]Dallas,[5] andHagåtña.[6][2]
Astatue ofDr. Philip Jaisohn, an independence activist and journalist, was dedicated in 2008 in front of the Consular Section building at 2320 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.
The consulate includes the Korean Education Center.[7]
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After theindependence of Korea fromJapanese 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.[8] AlthoughChang 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 thePresident 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.[9]
South Korea has so far sent twenty-four ambassadors to the United States, excluding 2Chargé d'affaires a.i. (Koo Chong-whay and Oh Jay-hee).[9] AsChung Il-kwon served twice as the third and fifth ambassador, a total of twenty-three different people have served in the position.[2]
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 theMinistry of Foreign Affairs (e.g.,Ahn Ho-young,Choi Young-jin, andLee Tae-sik), or in high government positions such asPrime Minister and head of theFinance 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 ofAmbassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary while in office.[2]
South Korea maintains 9Consulate Generals, 1 Consulate Agency, and 2 Consular Offices in addition to its main embassy in Washington, D.C., to better offer diplomatic services to South Korean and foreign nationals from every corner of the United States. The main embassy located in Washington, D.C., 9Consulate Generals located within the 50 states, and the Consulate Agency located inGuam split the United States territory into 11 non-overlapping consular jurisdictions, and each diplomatic post offers consular services within its exclusive jurisdiction only. On the other hand, the 2 Consular Offices located inAnchorage andDallas do not control over an exclusive consular jurisdiction and instead offer consular services to those fromAlaska andDallas–Fort Worth metro area respectively, who otherwise would have to travel to theConsulate Generals inSeattle andHouston, respectively.[2]
The Consulate Agency inGuam was originally established in 1970 as a Consulate Agency under control of theConsulate General inHonolulu. Although upgraded to aConsulate General in 1977, it was eventually downgraded back to a Consulate Agency in 1999 and since then once again theConsulate General inHonolulu has been controlling the Agency.[10]
The Consular Office inAnchorage was originally established in 1980 as aConsulate General but was closed in 1999. It was reopened in 2007 as a Consular Office and has been under control of theConsulate General inSeattle.[11]
The Consular Office inDallas, the most recent addition to the list of South Korean diplomatic posts in the United States, was established in 2012 under control of theConsulate General inHouston. This reflects the rapid growth of the South Korean expatriate community inDallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area as well as the strengthening business ties between South Korea and northern Texas.[12]
The list of the 11 South Korean diplomatic establishments in the United States as well as select information regarding those are provided below:
| Type | Location | Initial Opening Date | Consular Jurisdiction | Address |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Embassy | Washington, D.C. | Jan. 1888 | Washington, D.C.; Maryland; Virginia; West Virginia | * 2450 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. * 2400 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington County, Virginia (Annex) * 2320 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. (Consular Section) * 2370 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. (Korean Cultural Center) * 4801 Glenbrook Road, N.W. (Ambassador's Residence) |
| Consulate General | Los Angeles [ko] | Nov. 1948 | Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico | * 3243 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90010 * 5505 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036 (Korean Cultural Center) * 680 Wilshire Place, #200, Los Angeles, CA 90005 (Korean Education Center) |
| Consulate General | New York City [ko] | Apr. 1949 | New York, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania | * 335 E. 45th Street, New York, NY 10017 * 460 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022 (Consular Section) |
| Consulate General | Honolulu [ko] | Apr. 1949 | Hawaii, American Samoa | * 2756 Pali Highway, Honolulu, HI 96817 |
| Consulate General | San Francisco [ko] | Jun. 1949 | Northern California, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming | * 3500 Clay Street, San Francisco, CA 94118 |
| Consulate General | Chicago | May 1968 | Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin | * NBC Tower Suite 2700, 455 North Cityfront Plaza Drive, Chicago, IL 60611 |
| Consulate General | Houston | May 1968 | Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma | *1990 Post Oak Boulevard, #1250, Houston, TX 77056 |
| Consulate General | Atlanta | Dec. 1976 | Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands | * International Tower Suite 2100, 229 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30303 |
| Consulate General | Seattle | Nov. 1977 | Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon | * 2033 6th Avenue, #1125, Seattle, WA 98121 |
| Consulate General | Boston | Aug. 1979 | Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont | * One Gateway Center Suite 251, 300 Washington Street, Newton, MA 02458 |
| Consular Agency | Guam | Feb. 1970 | Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) | * 125C Tun Jose Camacho Street, Tamuning, Guam 96913 |
| Consular Office | Anchorage | Jul. 1980 | Alaska | * 800 E. Dimond Boulevard, Suite 3–695, Anchorage, AK 99515 |
| Consular Office | Dallas | Nov. 2012 | Dallas - Fort Worth Metropolitan Area | * 14001 Dallas Parkway, Suite 450, Dallas, TX 75240 |
Korean Education Center in Washington DC The Embassy of The Republic of Korea 2320 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. Washington, DC 20008
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1 The South Korean mission in Taipei is South Korea's representative office in Taiwan, which functions as an informal diplomatic mission. | |
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