Yuri Kim (ambassador)

Yuri Kim
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of European and Eurasian Affairs
In office
July 18, 2023 – March 3, 2025
PresidentJoe Biden
Assistant SecretaryJames C. O’Brien
Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
In office
July 10, 2023 – October 5, 2023
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byDereck J. Hogan (acting)
Succeeded byJames C. O'Brien
15th United States Ambassador to Albania
In office
January 27, 2020 – June 25, 2023
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byDonald Lu
Succeeded byEric Wendt (2026)
Personal details
Bornc.1972 (age 53–54)
Seoul, South Korea
EducationUniversity of Pennsylvania (BA)
University of Cambridge (MPhil)
OccupationDiplomat

Yuri Kim (born c. 1972) is a Korean-born American former U.S. diplomat who is Senior Director for International Government Relations at ExxonMobil. She concluded her 29-year career at the State Department as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs. She was the United States Ambassador to Albania 2020 - 2023.[1][2] Kim is the first Korean-American woman to represent the United States as an ambassador and the first U.S. ambassador from Guam.[3]

Early life and education

Kim was born in South Korea and grew up on the Pacific Island of Guam.[4] She earned a B.A. (in 1993) from the University of Pennsylvania[5] and an M.Phil. from University of Cambridge. In addition to English she speaks Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, and Turkish.[6][7]

Career

Kim is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with experience across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. 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 to 2019.

Earlier in her career, Kim served as special assistant to the assistant secretary of 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.[3]

Kim was confirmed as ambassador to Albania by a voice vote of the full Senate on December 19, 2019,[2] and presented her credentials to Albanian president Ilir Meta in Tirana on January 27, 2020.[8] During her diplomatic mission in Albania,[1] Yuri Kim is supporting the growth of American investments in Albania.[9]

Honour

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Ambassador Yuri Kim - U.S. Embassy in Albania". 2021-11-07. Archived from the original on 2021-07-29. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  2. 1 2 "PN902 - Nomination of Yuri Kim for Department of State, 116th Congress (2019-2020)". www.congress.gov. December 19, 2019.
  3. 1 2 "US Senate approves Yuri Kim as Ambassador to Albania". top-channel.tv.
  4. ↑ Partido, Gerry (June 27, 2019). "Trump set to appoint Guamanian as ambassador to Albania; Academy graduate also proud to be 'Guam's ambassador to the world'". Archived from the original on May 22, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  5. ↑ https://www.state.gov/biographies/yuri-kim/ accessed April 29, 2024
  6. ↑ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Individual to Key Administration Post". whitehouse.gov – via National Archives.
  7. ↑ Daleno, Gaynor D. (30 June 2019). "AOLG grad to be named US ambassador". The Guam Daily Post.
  8. ↑ "US Ambassador Yuri Kim presents credentials to President". Tirana Times. January 28, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Fjalimi i Ambasadores Yuri Kim në Indeksin e Biznesit të Dhomës Amerikane të Tregtisë". Ambasada e SHBA në Shqipëri (in Albanian). 2020-06-29. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  10. ↑ Doda, Marjana (2023-06-28). "Rama honors Outgoing US Ambassador Yuri Kim with the Great Star of Public Gratitude". Argumentum. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
  11. ↑ ""Leaving with the Great Star of Public Appreciation", Rama's "diplomatically scandalous" message to Yuri Kim". Vox News. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
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