THE KOREA SOCIETY

is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization with individual and corporate members that is dedicated solely to the promotion of greater awareness, understanding, and cooperation between the people of the United States and Korea. Learn more about us here.

Board of Directors

  • Board of Directors

 


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

 

Young Choi
Treasurer

 

Carter Booth
Corporate Secretary


 

 

 

 

 

Carter Booth
Consultant

 

 

Nicholas Bratt
Managing Director
Lazard Asset Management LLC

 

 

Michael Burke
Head
International Franchise Management
Citi

 

Dr. Victor Cha
Senior Vice President and Korea Chair
Center for Strategic and International Studies

 

Jun Choi
Partner
Ernst & Young

 

 

Kyungsik  Choi
President & CEO
Samsung Electronics
North America

 

Young Choi
Partner
PricewaterhouseCoopers

 

Susan Greenwell
 SVP and Head of
International Government Relations
MetLife

 

 

Admiral Harry Harris
USN (Ret)
24th Commander of the
U.S. Pacific Command
Former U.S. Ambassador
to the Republic of Korea

 

 

Hy Hetherington
CEO
HLP Integration

 

Owen Joe
Chairman
Donghwa Cultural Foundation and SWPK Art Gallery

 President, Anthrop-J Investment Group, LLC

 

Pious Jung
Chief Executive Officer
CJ America

 

 

Song K. Jung 
Global Chair of Patents
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

 

 

Abraham Kim
Executive Director
Council of Korean Americans

 

 

Anthony Kim 
Co-President of Investment Banking
Centerview Partners

 

 

Mee Kim
Chairwoman
The Kim Koo Foundation

 

 

Jun Bong Lee
President
Korea International Trade Association
New York Center

 

 

Kevin Lee
Partner
KPMG LLP

 

 

Mark Lippert
Former
U.S. Ambassador to ROK


Senior Advisor, Korea Chair
CSIS

 

 

Tami Overby
Senior Advisor
Albright Stonebridge Group

 

 

William R. Rhodes
President & CEO
William R. Rhodes Global Advisors, LLC

 

 

General (Ret) Walter "Skip" Sharp
President
Sharp Advice, LLC

Former UNC/CFC/USFK Commander

 

 

 

Kathleen Stephens 
President and CEO
Korea Economic
Institute of America

U.S. Ambassador to
Republic of Korea 
(2008-2011)


 

 

Michael Woods 
President & Managing Member
Woods Capital, LLC
Board Member, Roman DBDR

 

 


 updated as of April 26, 2024