Yuri Kim (ambassador)

Born in Korea, Kim immigrated with her family to Guam in 1976 when she was four years old.[3] Her father was the founder of Yury Construction Co. Her mother, a homemaker and community leader, was among 228 passengers who perished on Korean Air Flight 801, which crashed on Guam on Aug. 6, 1997. Her family established the Jane Wha-Young Kim Foundation in her memory, providing scholarships to high school and university students on Guam as well as an award for outstanding teachers. Kim graduated from the Academy of Our Lady of Guam. She then earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.Phil. from University of Cambridge. In addition to English she speaks Korean, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, and Turkish.[4][5]

Kim is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. Kim served as the Director of the State Department's Center for the Study of Diplomacy, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State, and Director of the Office of European Security and Political-Military Affairs. Kim served as the Director of the Office of Southern European Affairs in the State Department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs from 2018-19.

Earlier in her career, Kim served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and was a member of the American delegation to the Six-Party Talks focused on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. She was also a Special Assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell.[2]

Kim was confirmed as Ambassador to Albania by a voice vote of the full Senate on December 19, 2019,[1] and presented her credentials to Albanian President Ilir Meta in Tirana on January 27, 2020.[6]

• List of ambassadors of the United States