Hong Seok-hyun

Hong Seok-hyun's route to diplomacy passed through economics, business, and newspapers. After engineering studies at Seoul National University and graduate study at Stanford, he worked at the World Bank, in Korean government offices, and at the Korea Development Institute. He became a senior executive at Samsung Corning before taking over JoongAng Ilbo as publisher in 1994. He later headed both the World Association of Newspapers and the Korea Association of Newspapers. ¹

During his brief 2005 ambassadorship, Hong participated directly in contacts concerning North Korea. Around the June 30–July 1 National Committee on American Foreign Policy conference, he traveled to New York to meet North Korean UN representative Pak Kil-yon. The Congressional Research Service described it as the first meeting between the two Koreas' resident ambassadors in the United States, amid efforts to resume nuclear negotiations. ²

His posting ended after a domestic scandal involving illegally recorded conversations from the former intelligence agency. In July 2005 President Roh Moo-hyun agreed to accept his resignation, although the presidential spokesman said Hong would remain temporarily to handle pending business, including the Six-Party Talks. ³

Hong later returned to Washington as President Moon Jae-in's special envoy in May 2017. He met Donald Trump and held separate talks with National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster about North Korean nuclear and missile tensions and THAAD. He also met Senator Cory Gardner as part of an effort to introduce the new Korean administration to American political leaders. ⁴