My First Year as Ambassador

[성김 대사]

I just passed my one-year anniversary as the U.S. Ambassador to Korea, so I thought this would be a good time to share some thoughts about my first year on the job with you.  First, I know I have said this before, but I wanted to reemphasize it again:  It is truly a great honor for me to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Korea.  As a diplomat, I know this is an amazing opportunity to work on a critically important relationship in the world’s most dynamic region.  As a Korean-American, I can’t describe in words how special it is to come back to my country of birth, place I love and respect, as the U.S. Ambassador. 

Addressing U.S. Embassy staff on my first day

My first year as Ambassador has been incredibly exciting, and we were all much busier than I had ever expected.  On our bilateral front, in partnership with General Thurman, we worked hard to strengthen and modernize the U.S.-Korea military partnership.  Our two countries coordinated closely regarding interesting developments up North.  In a milestone development for our partnership, we began implementation of the historic KORUS free trade agreement (FTA).  And of course you all know how hard I have worked to develop and strengthen our people-to-people ties. 

There were also important developments on our cooperation beyond the Korean Peninsula.  I am especially excited that Korea was recently elected a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.  In addition, Korea was chosen to host the Secretariat of the United Nations Green Climate Fund.  

But my first year as Ambassador has not been all serious business.  Many fun and unexpected things happened to me over the past year.  For example, I attended a live brain surgery and test drove exciting GM vehicles including the very famous, very fast Corvette sports car.  I also had the opportunity to meet many interesting Korean figures including K-pop stars like Psy and 2NE1.  I even got to participate in the artistic process when I sat for a series of abstract pieces.  One artist even made a mold of my hand, which served as my desktop business card holder for some time!  I also very much enjoyed meeting many bright young Koreans during visits to different universities.      

Ambassador Kim’s four pillars in action

I was honored to host very special guests like President Obama, Secretary Clinton and MLB Hall of Famer Phil Niekro.  I attended the opening of the new Mrs. Fields and TCBY store in Seoul and tasted some delicious cookies and frozen yogurt.  I visited many companies doing great work in Korea, including Rich Products, which makes some of Korea’s tastiest confections, and mighty Pohang Steel. 

Introducing President Obama at our Embassy meet-and-greet

And if you still can’t get a sense of how busy I was in my first year, let’s wrap it up by the numbers:

·         I have been on 8 trips outside of Seoul to regions all across Korea. 

·         I have visited 10 universities in Korea and the United States.  I had actually wanted to visit one university per month but I fell a little short.  Next year I hope to visit even more schools in both Korea and the United States.

·         We had more than 30 high-level visitors from the United States, including President Obama during the Nuclear Security Summit and Secretary of State Clinton during the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan. 

·         I have given 12+ major speeches and given 6 exclusive interviews. 

And these are just some numbers off the top of my head!

Altogether, it has been a very exciting year.  I am really looking forward to next year and continuing along the path we have started down.  And I very much appreciate all your support over the past year and hope I can continue to count on your friendship and support.  Thanks!