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C. S. Eliot Kang
강주순
4th Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 8, 2021
Acting: January 8, 2021 – March 31, 2022
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byChristopher Ashley Ford
In office
January 27, 2017 – January 8, 2018
Acting
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byThomas M. Countryman
Succeeded byChristopher Ashley Ford
In office
January 20, 2009 – June 15, 2009
Acting
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byPatricia McNerney
Succeeded byVann Van Diepen
Personal details
Born
Choo Soon Kang

1962 (age 61–62)
Children2
EducationCornell University (AB)
Yale University (MA, MPhil, PhD)

C.S. Eliot Kang (born in 1962 as Choo Soon Kang; Korean: 강주순[1]) is an American diplomat and member of the Senior Executive Service. He currently serves as the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN) at the U.S. Department of State. From January to July 2021 and January 2017 to January 2018, Kang served as acting ISN Assistant Secretary and also exercised the authority of the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.[2] He also served as acting ISN Assistant Secretary from January to June 2009.

Kang is one of the State Department's leading experts on nuclear affairs, including on nuclear safeguards, security, and safety matters as well as denuclearization, counterproliferation, and counter nuclear terrorism issues. On April 12, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intention to nominate Kang as his administration's Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation.[3] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 29, 2022.[4]

Early life and education

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Kang is the son of Ho Ryun Kang (강호륜),[5] a former South Korean government official and retired Air Force brigadier general residing in the United States, who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Legion of Merit, and other medals by the U.S. Government for his actions during the Korean War.[5] Kang's maternal great-grandfather, the late Yim Heung Soon (임흥순), was the chairman of the National Defense Committee of the Korean National Assembly during the Korean War and served as the Mayor of Seoul in 1959 and 1960.

After graduating from Lakewood High School in Lakewood Township, New Jersey,[6] Kang earned a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University in 1984 and then received his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Yale University.[7]

Career

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Early career

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Before joining the State Department as a William C. Foster Fellow in 2003, Kang was a tenured professor of political science. He taught international security at the University of Pennsylvania and Northern Illinois University and has held fellowships at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Brookings Institution. He has published extensively; his writings have appeared in such publications as International Organization, World Affairs, and Comparative Strategy.[8]

During the late 1980s, Kang worked on Wall Street as an investment banker. He specialized in corporate finance and mergers & acquisitions for Dillon, Read & Co., Inc.[8] Kang is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He became a Term Member in 1997 and was elected a Life Member in 2002.[9]

Diplomatic career

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Bush administration

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During the administration of President George W. Bush, Kang held various senior positions in the State Department, including in the Bureau of Arms Control and Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.[10] In the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Threat Reduction, Export Controls, and Negotiations.[11] He led U.S. efforts to tighten export controls against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery vehicles.[12] Kang also served as the senior nonproliferation policy adviser on the U.S. delegations to the Six-Party Talks under the leadership of Christopher R. Hill.[13] He participated in the sixth round of the Six-Party Talks that produced the 13 February 2007 Joint Statement, resulting in the closure Yongbyon nuclear facility and the invitation of IAEA inspectors to conduct monitoring and verification measures.[14] In October 2008, he accompanied Christopher R. Hill on his last visit to North Korea[15] He attempted to work out with the North Koreans a verification protocol for denuclearization as Hill tried to shore up the flagging momentum in the Six-Party Talks process.[16]

Obama Administration

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During the Presidential transition between George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Kang served for six months as the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation.[17] Afterwards, he continued to focus on nuclear issues, leading U.S. diplomatic efforts in various international nuclear fora and multinational negotiations. In 2009, as President Obama launched his Nuclear Security Summit process, Kang co-chaired the 2009 Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) in the Hague.[18] He delivered a personal message from the President committing his full support for the Initiative and welcoming 75 nations that joined it.[19] While serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Nuclear Affairs (2011–2016), Kang was accorded by President Obama the personal rank of ambassador in preparation for the February 2015 Diplomatic Conference for the Convention on Nuclear Safety.[20] The international community, divided on the future of nuclear energy, was slow to respond to acute nuclear safety concerns that arose following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.[21] The leading international forum addressing nuclear safety, Convention on Nuclear Safety, was mired in diplomatic deadlock, as anti-nuclear energy political pressure began to build, especially in Europe.[22] Leading the U.S. delegation to the Diplomatic Conference, Kang secured the swift adoption of a consensus approach to resolving the deadlock.[23] The compromise made possible the adoption of the Vienna Declaration on Nuclear Safety,[24] a milestone in the ongoing international efforts to improve nuclear safety as nuclear energy remains viable but continues to be controversial.[25][26]

Trump administration

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On January 22, 2017, Kang was appointed Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN). Throughout 2017, he acted as ISN's Assistant Secretary and exercised the authorities of the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. In 2020, he once again acted as ISN's Assistant Secretary.

Biden administration

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As ISN's acting Assistant Secretary in the first six months of the Biden Administration, for the second time, Kang exercised the authorities of the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. On April 12, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Kang to be the Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation.[3] A hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on September 15, 2021.[27] On October 19, 2021, his nomination was reported favorably out of committee.[28] Kang's nomination expired at the end of the year, and was returned to President Biden on January 3, 2022.[29] However, Kang's nomination was resent the following day. On March 8, 2022, his nomination was again reported favorably out of committee. Kang was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 29, 2022, via a floor vote of 52–46.[30]

Awards and recognitions

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Kang is a recipient of multiple State Department Superior Honor Award and a State Department Distinguished Honor Award.[31] In 2018, he received from President Trump a congressionally established Presidential Rank Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the federal career service, at the Meritorious Executive Rank.[32] In 2022, President Biden conferred on him the rank of Distinguished Executive in the Senior Executive Service.[33]

Personal life

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Kang is married to Michelle Ho and has two sons, both born in Naperville, Illinois.[34]

Selected publications

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References

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  1. ^ "바이든, 국무부 차관보에 한국계 엘리엇 강 지명(종합)" [Biden appointed Eliot Kang, a Korean descent, as Assistant Secretary of State Department]. Yonhap News Agency (YNA). April 13, 2021. Archived from the original on June 18, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  2. ^ Official U.S. Department of State biography. https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/bureau/122719.htm
  3. ^ a b "President Biden Announces His Intent to Nominate 11 Key Administration Leaders on National Security and Law Enforcement". The White House. 2021-04-12. Retrieved 2021-04-12.
  4. ^ "PN416 - Nomination of C.S. Eliot Kang for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". 3 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Ho Ryun Kang, 64, Ex-South Korean Aide". The New York Times. 1990-03-13. Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  6. ^ "Lakewood graduates hear student speakers at ceremony". Asbury Park Press. June 18, 1981. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  7. ^ The White House Announces National Finalists For 1998-1999 White House Fellowships, Clinton administration, May 5, 1998. Accessed January 27, 2023. "C.S. Eliot Kang, 35, is a foreign policy analyst at the Japan Institute of International Affairs in Tokyo.... He received an M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. from the Yale University Department of Political Science."
  8. ^ a b "2001-2009 Archive for the U.S. Department of State". 2008-05-23. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  9. ^ "CFR Membership Roster". Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  10. ^ "Biography: C.S. Eliot Kang, Ph.D. - US Department of State". 2008-05-23. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  11. ^ "Biography: C.S. Eliot Kang, Ph.D." 2008-05-23. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  12. ^ "The EXBS Program: Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance" (PDF). Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  13. ^ Hill, Christopher (2014). Outpost: Life on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-8591-6.
  14. ^ Cooper, Helene (October 4, 2007). "North Koreans Agree to Disable Nuclear Facilities". The New York Times. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  15. ^ "US envoy ends North Korea visit". 2008-10-03. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  16. ^ States News Service (October 3, 2008). "Remarks with Korean Special Representative Kim Sook". LexisNexis. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  17. ^ Fiske, Fred (May 17, 2009). "Altered State; Obama-Clinton team charts bold new directions for foreign policy". The Post-Standard. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  18. ^ Olson, Conrad. "The Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism: Progress to Date". Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  19. ^ "Enhancing International Partnerships". Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  20. ^ Chang, JS (2015-01-28). "Korean-American diplomat awarded rank of ambassador". Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  21. ^ Tirone, Jonathan (October 23, 2014). "U.S. Said to Join Russia in Blocking Nuclear Safety Moves". Bloomberg. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  22. ^ Dahl, Fredrik (2014-10-23). "US, Europeans row over post-Fukushima nuclear safety step". Reuters. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  23. ^ Tirone, Jonathan (9 February 2015). "Swiss Abandon Nuclear-Safety Push Amid U.S.-Russian Opposition". Bloomberg News. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  24. ^ Donovan, Jeffrey (2015-02-10). "Vienna Declaration on Nuclear Safety Is Adopted at Diplomatic Conference". Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  25. ^ Adelman, Oliver (February 23, 2015). "CNS statement better approach than Swiss amendment: US officials". Platts Inside NRC. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  26. ^ Nasralla, Shadia (2015-02-09). "U.S. derails amendment to toughen nuclear safety pact: diplomats". Reuters. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  27. ^ "PN416 - Nomination of C.S. Eliot Kang for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. 2021-10-19. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
  28. ^ "SFRC APPROVES 33 CRITICAL FOREIGN POLICY NOMINATIONS" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. October 19, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  29. ^ "PN416 — C.S. Eliot Kang — Department of State 117th Congress (2021-2022)". US Congress. 3 January 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  30. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation: C.S. Eliot Kang, of New Jersey, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (International Security and Non-Proliferation))". US Senate. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  31. ^ "C.S. Eliot Kang". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  32. ^ "2018 Presidential Rank Awards". U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT.
  33. ^ "RELEASE: President Biden Selects 2022 Presidential Rank Awards Winners". U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  34. ^ "Weddings; Michelle Ho and Eliot Kang". The New York Times. 1992-08-23. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
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