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Ex-Foreign Minister Kang formally appointed as South Korea's ambassador to U.S.

Published: 01 Oct. 2025, 14:35

Former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, center, meets with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik at the National Assembly on Sept. 29. [YONHAP]

Former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha was formally appointed as South Korea's ambassador to the United States on Wednesday, according to South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Kang, who served as South Korea's top diplomat from 2017 to 2021 under former President Moon Jae-in, has become the Lee Jae Myung administration's first ambassador to Washington.

Kang has extensive experience working with the United Nations, particularly in the field of human rights, including a stint as the UN deputy high commissioner for human rights in 2006.

Experts said Kang is well fit for Seoul's top envoy in charge of seeking close policy coordination with the United States at a time when expectations are growing that North Korea and the United States may resume diplomacy.

Kang is widely expected to first coordinate U.S. President Donald Trump's upcoming trip to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and summit talks between Lee and Trump.

As Seoul's top envoy, Kang also faces the daunting tasks of negotiating tariff talks with the United States and dealing with Washington's move to "modernize" the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

Born in 1955, Kang went on to graduate from Yonsei University in Seoul. She then received a doctorate in communications from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1984.

Yonhap