{"record":{"aliases":[],"appointmentIds":["korea-6301cc0a04e1c4"],"appointmentsDataset":"https://chanceries.org/diplomats.json","archivalSources":[],"canonicalUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/park-tong-jin-4ae9dc8dc4/","countrySlug":"korea","entityId":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/park-tong-jin-4ae9dc8dc4/#person","eventIds":[],"expandedParagraphs":["Park Tong-jin graduated from Chuo University in Japan in 1943 and worked in the offices of Prime Minister Lee Beom-seok and President Syngman Rhee after independence. As a second secretary in Washington, he witnessed the signing of the 1953 mutual defense treaty. Later assignments included chief of protocol, ambassador to the United Nations, and head of the national unification ministry.","Foreign minister from December 1975 to September 1980, Park confronted the Koreagate lobbying scandal and the Carter administration's troop withdrawal plans. He conveyed Seoul's willingness to have businessman Park Tongsun cooperate with American investigators. His tenure also encompassed President Park Chung-hee's assassination and the ensuing military takeover. He subsequently served two terms in the National Assembly.","Park returned to Washington as ambassador in 1988–1991. He joined the Korean delegation at the February 1989 Bush–Roh summit in Seoul, where the presidents discussed security, trade disputes, and Roh's opening toward communist states. After retirement he held positions with Korea Electric Power and the Korean Council on Foreign Relations, published an autobiography in 1992, and died in 2013."],"id":"korea:park tong-jin","identifiers":{},"legacyPersonIds":[],"legacyUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplomat-4ae9dc8dc4ad7ac0e9f1.html","name":"Park Tong-jin","notes":[],"paragraphSources":[["obituary"],["obituary"],["obituary","summit"]],"profileUrl":"diplomat-4ae9dc8dc4ad7ac0e9f1.html","relatedEvents":[],"relatedPeople":[],"relationships":[],"researchStatus":"reviewed","reviewedOn":"2026-10-28","revision":"295eae0507c6055e","sources":[{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"2013-11-11","id":"obituary","locator":"Career obituary","publisher":"경향신문","title":"박동진 전 외무장관 별세… 박정희 정권 임명 최장수 외무 수장, 현대 외교사 한 축","type":"contemporary-report","url":"https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201311112130025"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"1989-02-27","id":"summit","locator":"Participant list and full meeting memorandum","publisher":"White House; National Security Archive","title":"Memorandum of Conversation: Plenary Meeting Between President Bush and President Roh Tae Woo","type":"primary-record","url":"https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/media/23921/ocr"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"Undated; lists Kang Kyung-wha as incumbent from October 2025","id":"mission-5a99a134f5cacf2c3bad","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Mission history, former chiefs and jurisdiction","type":"Mission record","url":"https://www.mofa.go.kr/us-ko/wpge/m_4472/contents.do"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"2024 (copyright)","id":"mission-15f3df0746809ebc7fb9","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Korean Americans in Washington, D.C.: A Historic Context Study","type":"Mission record","url":"https://planning.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/op/publication/attachments/Korean%20Context%20COMPLETE.pdf"}],"topics":["mutual defense treaty","Koreagate","troop withdrawal","Nordpolitik"]},"schemaVersion":1}