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List of United States Special Representatives for North Korea

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

United States Special Representative for North Korea
대북특별대표
Seal of the United States Department of State
NominatorThe President of the United States
AppointerSecretary of State

The United States Special Representative for The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the top US State Department official who represents the United States' interests with respect to North Korea in a diplomatic context. North Korea and the United States have no formal diplomatic relations. (See North Korea–United States relations.) Sweden acts as the protecting power of United States interests in North Korea for consular matters.[1]

Current office holders

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President Joe Biden announced on May 21, 2021 that Sung Kim will serve as the U.S. special envoy for North Korea.[2]

List of Special Representatives

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No. Special Representatives Term start Term end US President NK Supreme Leader
1 Stephen W. Bosworth February 20, 2009 October 26, 2011 Barack Obama Kim Jong-il
2 Glyn T. Davies October 26, 2011 November 6, 2014
Kim Jong-un
3 Sung Kim November 6, 2014 November 3, 2016
4 Joseph Y. Yun October 17, 2016 March 2, 2018
Donald Trump
5 Stephen Biegun August 23, 2018 January 20, 2021
6 Sung Kim May 21, 2021 November 21, 2023 Joe Biden
7 Jung H. Pak November 21, 2023 July 5, 2024

Stephen W. Bosworth served as special envoy to North Korea from 2009 to 2011, under President Obama. He had previously been an ambassador to several countries, including to South Korea from 1997 to 2001.[3]

Glyn Davies served as the Special Representative for North Korea Policy from January 2012-November 2014.[4]

Sung Kim served as the Special Representative for North Korea Policy from November 2014-September 2016 and as Special Envoy for the Six-Party Talks from 2008-2011.[5]

Joseph Y. Yun served as the Special Representative for North Korea Policy October 17, 2016 – March 2, 2018.[6]

Stephen Biegun was appointed by Secretary Mike Pompeo and served from 2018–2021.[7]

List of Special Envoys on North Korean Human Rights Issues

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No. Special Envoys Term start Term end US President NK Supreme Leader
1 Jay Lefkowitz August 19, 2005 January 2009 George W. Bush Kim Jong-il
2 Robert R. King November 24, 2009 January 12, 2017 Barack Obama Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-un
3 Julie Turner October 13, 2023 Incumbent Joe Biden Kim Jong-un

Jay Lefkowitz was President George W. Bush's Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea.[8]

Robert R. King served as Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues from November 2009 to January 2017.[9]

List of Special Envoys for the Six-Party Talks

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Special Envoys Term start Term end US President NK Supreme Leader
Jack Pritchard April 2001 September 2003 George W. Bush Kim Jong-il
James A. Kelly September 2003 January 2005 George W. Bush Kim Jong-il
Christopher R. Hill February 14, 2005 2008 George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Kim Jong-il
Sung Kim July 31, 2008 October 13, 2011 Barack Obama Kim Jong-il
Clifford Hart October 31, 2011 July 23, 2013 Barack Obama Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-un
Sydney Seiler September 2, 2014 2015 Barack Obama Kim Jong-un

Clifford Hart served as the Special Envoy for the Six-Party Talks October 2011-July 2013.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "U.S. Relations with North Korea". U.S. Department of State. October 18, 2016. Retrieved 2017-08-13.
  2. ^ "Biden Appoints Career Diplomat Sung Kim To Serve As Special Envoy To North Korea". The Public Radio Service of Western Kentucky University. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  3. ^ Langer, Emily (January 6, 2016). "Stephen W. Bosworth, three-time U.S. ambassador, dies at 76". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2016-01-07. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  4. ^ "Davies, Glyn". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  5. ^ "Kim, Sung". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  6. ^ "Yun, Joseph Y." U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  7. ^ Harris, Gardiner (August 23, 2018). "Pompeo Will Return to North Korea Next Week With Reinforcement". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-08-23. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  8. ^ "Final report of Jay Lefkowitz, U.S. Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea - Democratic People's Republic of Korea". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  9. ^ "King, Robert R." U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  10. ^ "US envoy for six-party talks moved and not yet replaced". Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
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