Embassy of South Korea, Washington, D.C.


The Embassy of Republic of Korea in Washington, D.C. is the diplomatic mission of South Korea to the United States. Its main chancery is located at 2450 Massachusetts Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Embassy Row neighborhood. The current ambassador is Lee Soo-hyuck.
Due to the rather small size of its main chancery building, the embassy has an annex nearby in Arlington County, Virginia. It also occupies two additional buildings close to its main chancery building to house its Consular Section and a Korean Cultural Center. The ambassador's residence is located in the nearby Spring Valley neighborhood, close to American University.
The embassy operates consulates general in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and Seattle. In addition to those consulates general, the embassy also maintains a consulate agency in Guam as well as two consular offices in Anchorage and Dallas.
A statue of Dr. Philip Jaisohn, an independence activist and journalist, was dedicated in 2008 in front of the Consular Section building at 2320 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.
The consulate includes the Korean Education Center.

List of ambassadors

After the independence of Korea from Japanese rule in 1945, and the founding of Republic of Korea in 1948, South Korea immediately restored normal diplomatic relationship with the United States and has since been sending ambassadors to the United States. Although Chang Myon is officially recorded as the first ambassador serving from February 1949, Chough Pyung-ok was recognized in August 1948 as the Special Representative of the President of South Korea with a personal rank of Ambassador. Chang replaced Chough in January 1949 in the same capacity, and was appointed as the first ambassador the following month.
South Korea has so far sent twenty-four ambassadors to the United States, excluding 2 Chargé d'affaires a.i.. As Chung Il-kwon served twice as the third and fifth ambassador, a total of twenty-three different people have served in the position.
Reflecting the United States' significance to South Korea's diplomacy, almost all of these ambassadors have been chosen from elites in their respective fields. For instance, the four most recent ambassadors have all been either career diplomats who had served in the high levels of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or in high government positions such as Prime Minister and head of the Finance Ministry before being appointed to Washington, D.C.
A complete list of ambassadors is provided below in the order of appointment. All held the title of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary while in office.
OrderNameName in KoreanAppointedLeftCareer Highlights
1stChang Myon장면February 1949February 1951Vice President, Prime Minister, Speaker of National Assembly, leader of opposition party
2ndYang You-chan양유찬April 1951April 1960Medical doctor
3rdChung Il-kwon정일권May 1960September 1960Prime Minister, Speaker of National Assembly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Armed Forces Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
4thChang Lee-wook장이욱October 1960June 1961President of Seoul National University, independence activist
5thChung Il-kwon정일권June 1961April 1963Prime Minister, Speaker of National Assembly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Armed Forces Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
6thKim Chung-yul김정열May 1963October 1964Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Member of National Assembly, Armed Forces Chief of Staff
7thKim Hyun-chul김현철December 1964October 1967Minister of Strategy and Finance
8thKim Dong-jo김동조October 1967December 1973Minister of Foreign Affairs
9thHahm Pyong-choon함병춘December 1973April 1977Presidential Chief of Staff, Professor
10thKim Yong-shik김용식April 1977June 1981Minister of Foreign Affairs
11thYu Byung-hyun류병현July 1981November 1985Armed Forces Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
12thKim Kyung-won김경원November 1985April 1988Presidential Chief of Staff, Professor
13thPark Tong-jin박동진May 1988March 1991Minister of Foreign Affairs, Member of National Assembly
14thHyun Hong-choo현홍주March 1991April 1993Prosecutor, Member of National Assembly, Minister of Legislation
15thHan Seung-soo한승수April 1993December 1994Prime Minister, Minister of Strategy and Finance, Member of National Assembly, Professor
16thPark Kun-woo박건우January 1995April 1998Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, President of Kyunghee Cyber University
17thLee Hong-koo이홍구May 1998August 2000Prime Minister, Minister of Unification, Member of National Assembly
18thYang Sung-chul양성철August 2000April 2003Member of National Assembly, Professor
19thHan Sung-joo한승주April 2003February 2005Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor
20thHong Seok-hyun홍석현February 2005September 2005President of Joongang Daily and JTBC
21stLee Tae-sik이태식October 2005March 2009Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor
22ndHan Duck-soo한덕수March 2009February 2012Prime Minister, Minister of Strategy and Finance
23rdChoi Young-jin최영진March 2012May 2013Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
24thAhn Ho-young안호영June 2013October 2017Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
25thCho Yoon-je조윤제November 2017October 2019Professor
25thLee Soo-hyuck이수혁October 2019Incumbent

Consular locations and jurisdictions

South Korea maintains 9 Consulate Generals, 1 Consulate Agency, and 2 Consular Offices in addition to its main embassy in Washington, D.C., to better offer diplomatic services to Korean and foreign nationals from every corner of the United States. The main embassy located in Washington, D.C., 9 Consulate Generals located within the 50 states, and the Consulate Agency located in Guam split the United States territory into 11 non-overlapping consular jurisdictions, and each diplomatic post offers consular services within its exclusive jurisdiction only. On the other hand, the 2 Consular Offices located in Anchorage and Dallas do not control over an exclusive consular jurisdiction and instead offer consular services to those from Alaska and Dallas–Fort Worth metro area respectively, who otherwise would have to travel to the Consulate Generals in Seattle and Houston, respectively.
The Consulate Agency in Guam was originally established in 1970 as a Consulate Agency under control of the Consulate General in Honolulu. Although upgraded to a Consulate General in 1977, it was eventually downgraded back to a Consulate Agency in 1999 and since then once again the Consulate General in Honolulu has been controlling the Agency.
The Consular Office in Anchorage was originally established in 1980 as a Consulate General but was closed in 1999. It was reopened in 2007 as a Consular Office and has been under control of the Consulate General in Seattle.
The Consular Office in Dallas, the most recent addition to the list of Korean diplomatic posts in the United States, was established in 2012 under control of the Consulate General in Houston. This reflects the rapid growth of the Korean community in Dallas–Fort Worth metro area as well as the strengthening business ties between Korea and northern Texas.
The list of the 11 Korean diplomatic establishments in the United States as well as select information regarding those are provided below:
TypeLocationInitial Opening DateConsular JurisdictionAddress
EmbassyWashington, D.C.Jan. 1888Washington, D.C.; Maryland; Virginia; West Virginia* 2450 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
  • 2400 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington County, Virginia
  • 2320 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
  • 2370 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
  • 4801 Glenbrook Road, N.W.
Consulate GeneralLos AngelesNov. 1948Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico* 3243 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90010
  • 5505 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036
  • 680 Wilshire Place, #200, Los Angeles, CA 90005
    • Consulate GeneralNew York CityApr. 1949New York, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania* 335 E. 45th Street, New York, NY 10017
  • 460 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022
    • Consulate GeneralHonoluluApr. 1949Hawaii, American Samoa* 2756 Pali Highway, Honolulu, HI 96817
    Consulate GeneralSan FranciscoJun. 1949Northern California, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming* 3500 Clay Street, San Francisco, CA 94118
    Consulate GeneralChicagoMay 1968Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin* NBC Tower Suite 2700, 455 North Cityfront Plaza Drive, Chicago, IL 60611
    Consulate GeneralHoustonMay 1968Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma* 1990 Post Oak Boulevard, #1250, Houston, TX 77056
    Consulate GeneralAtlantaDec. 1976Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands* International Tower Suite 2100, 229 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30303
    Consulate GeneralSeattleNov. 1977Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon* 2033 6th Avenue, #1125, Seattle, WA 98121
    Consulate GeneralBostonAug. 1979Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont* One Gateway Center Suite 251, 300 Washington Street, Newton, MA 02458
    Consular AgencyGuamFeb. 1970Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands * 125C Tun Jose Camacho Street, Tamuning, Guam 96913
    Consular OfficeAnchorageJul. 1980Alaska* 800 E. Dimond Boulevard, Suite 3-695, Anchorage, AK 99515
    Consular OfficeDallasNov. 2012Dallas - Fort Worth Metropolitan Area* 14001 Dallas Parkway, Suite 450, Dallas, TX 75240