Amb. Kathleen Stephens
Chair, The Korea Society
Kathleen Stephens was a career diplomat in the United States Foreign Service, 1978-2015. She was U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea 2008-2011, the first woman and first Korean-speaker in that position. Other overseas assignments included postings to Trinidad and Tobago, China, Korea, former Yugoslavia, Portugal, Northern Ireland, where she was U.S. Consul General in Belfast during the negotiations culminating in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and India, where she was U.S. Chargé d’Affaires (2014-2015).
In Washington, Ambassador Stephens served in senior policy positions at the Department of State and the White House, including acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (2012), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2005-2007), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs (2003-2005), and National Security Council Director for European Affairs at the Clinton White House.
Stephens was William J. Perry Fellow for Korea at Stanford University’s Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center, 2015-2018. She served as President and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute of American (KEIA) from 2018 to 2023. She is board vice-chair of The Asia Foundation and board chair of Pacific Century Institute.
Ambassador Stephens’ U.S. government awards include the Presidential Meritorious Service Award (2009) and Linguist of the Year (2010). Other awards related to Korea include the Kwanghwa Medal of Diplomatic Merit, the Sejong Cultural Award, the Korean-American Friendship Association Award, the Kevin O’Donnell Distinguished Friend of Korea, AmCham Korea’s Outstanding Achievement Award, and in 2022 the First Baek Bum Kim Koo Award.
Stephens studied at Prescott College, University of Hong Kong and Oxford University, and holds a BA Honors from Prescott. She holds a Master’s degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School. In the 1970s she was an Outward Bound instructor in Hong Kong, and a Peace Corps volunteer in Korea.
Thomas J. Byrne
President & CEO
Tom Byrne joined The Korea Society as President/CEO in August 2015. Since June 2023, he has also taken on the role of “Honorary Ambassador,” appointed by the minister of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) under the auspices of Korea Overseas Trade and Investment Agency (KOTRA)/Invest Korea, to help promote trade and investment ties between Korea and the U.S.
Byrne also teaches as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York City and at Georgetown University’s Graduate School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C.
Byrne comes to the Society from Moody’s Ratings. He joined the credit rating agency in 1996 and rose to Senior Vice President, Regional Manager, spokesperson, and Director of Analysis for the Sovereign Risk Group in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, based in Singapore.
He was the Senior Economist at the Institute of International Finance in Washington D.C., where he worked on Middle Eastern, African and Asian emerging markets countries from 1984 to 1996.
Byrne has an MA in International Relations with a Concentration in International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a BS in Biology from State University of New York at Stony Brook.
He served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in South Korea working in the National Tuberculosis Control Program in rural counties from 1976 to 1979.
Gen. Walter Sharp
Vice Chair
Young Choi
Treasurer
Song Jung
Advisor to TKS Board of Directors
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Michael Burke
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Dr. Victor Cha |
Jun Choi
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Young Choi |
Admiral Harry Harris
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Hy Hetherington
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Pious Jung
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Abraham Kim
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Anthony Kim
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Jun Bong Lee
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Kevin Lee
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Mark Lippert
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Tami Overby
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General (Ret) Walter "Skip" Sharp
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Kathleen Stephens
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Michael Woods
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updated as of January 15, 2025
