THE KOREA SOCIETY

Consul General Sangho Kim of the Republic of Korea in New York. Consul-General Kim Sang Ho serves as the Consul-General of the Korean Consulate General in New York, a position he assumed in April 2026. Prior to his diplomatic appointment in New York, Consul-General Kim was actively involved in civic and national organizations, serving as a Board Member for the Citizen's Coalition for Urban Future from 2024 to 2026 and as the Director General of the External Cooperation Bureau for the National Council for People's Sovereignty from 2024 to 2025. From 2018 to 2022, he served as the Mayor of Hanam City in Gyeonggi Province. He served as the Vice Chair of the Policy Committee at the Central Headquarters of the Democratic Party of Korea from 2017 to 2018, which followed an eight-year tenure as an Advisor to a Member of the National Assembly for the Democratic Party of Korea from 2008 to 2016.

Brigadier General (Ret.) Chris Stockel currently serves as the Korea Defense Veterans Association New York City Metro Chapter president. He is also the vice president of the Civil Affairs Association, senior U.S. civil military operations (CMO) advisor to the Korea Battle Simulation Center (KBSC). He commanded infantry, special forces, and civil affairs units, culminating at the one-star level as commanding general (CG) of the 351st Civil Affairs Command (CACOM) in Mountain View, CA and as the acting Combined Forces Command (CFC) C9 (civil affairs), Korea. As CG of the 351st, he was responsible for nearly all civil affairs operations in the INDO-PACIFIC. Previous to this, he was deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Civil Affairs & Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) and chief of staff (COS) of the 352nd CACOM. Before this, he was the commander of the civil military operations center (CMOC) and deputy COS strategic effects Operational Command Post (OCP) Third Army/ARCENT, Kuwait. He deployed twice to Iraq – once as a CA officer and later as the PAO for CJSOTF-AP. Other assignments included interagency duty with State counter-terrorism at Main State in the CT bureau, formerly S/CT, a joint assignment with USSOCOM, and Special Operations USEUCOM (SOCEUR). His training assignments, tours, and deployment postings included numerous European, Asian, Central American, Caribbean, East African, and Middle Eastern countries (including Egypt, Iraq, UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Lebanon, and Kuwait). He spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations focused on China, at AUSA LANPAC in Hawaii on HADR, and testified about Iraq before Congress to the House committee on State and Foreign Operations. Stockel earned a BA in Mathematics/Computer Science with a minor in German from Trenton State College including a year abroad at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany and a Master's Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. He is a life member of the Council of Foreign Relations. While in uniform he held DoD language ratings in German, Arabic, and Spanish. He is ranger and special forces qualified. His numerous awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, German Parachute Badge, Latvian Special Forces Parachute Badge, Indonesian Parachute Badge, and Cote d'Ivoire Parachute Badge.

Salvatore Scarlato is Korean War Veterans area commander. He joined the Korean War Veterans Central Long Island Chapter in September 1989, serving first as a Member, then as Director, Event Chairman, 1st Vice President, and today as President. He has been President of this Chapter and the Korean War Veterans Association Department of New York from 2009 to the present. Born in Brooklyn, New York on January 14, 1933, Salvatore was raised in Bedford Stuyvesant, Williamsburg in Brooklyn. He attended Public School 157 and Boys High School in Brooklyn. On October 15, 1951, at the age of 18, he joined the United States Marine Corps. He arrived in Inchon Harbor in April 1952 and was assigned as a Browning Automatic Rifle (B.A.R.) man to Baker Company 1st Shore Party Battalion, 1st Marine Division, attached to the Kimpo Provisional Regiment (K.P.R.) with the 7th Marine Regiment on the Main Line of Resistance (M.L.R.), known as the Jamestown Line. He was combat wounded and spent five months at Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital, receiving an Honorable Medical Discharge.

Salvatore Scarlato is the recipient of the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Unit Commendation with one Bronze Star, Navy Reserve Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with three Bronze Stars, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation with one Bronze Star, United Nations Medal, the Korean War Service Medal, and the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross and Conspicuous Service Star. In civilian life, Salvatore was an electro-mechanical designer who worked for various electronic and aircraft companies on military and commercial design of electronic equipment, black boxes for aircraft, and ground support equipment. Salvatore married his wife Teresa on June 1, 1957. He has two children, Karen and Thomas, three grandsons, Nicholas, Steven, and Matthew, and son-in-law Wayne.

Jack Foley enlisted in the United States Marine Corps following his graduation from high school in March 1951 at the age of 17. Jack completed recruit training at Parris Island before being transferred to Camp Pendleton in California for advanced infantry instruction. The training included rigorous Mountain Warfare exercises in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in preparation for deployment to Korea. Upon his return home in late November 1952, he was promoted to the rank of Marine Sergeant in the USMC and assigned to the 2nd Marine Division at Camp LeJeune, NC serving with the Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment. In May 1953, Jack was reassigned to Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA where he served as a Weapons instructor at the Officer Candidate School. Following this assignment, he returned to Camp LeJeune where he completed his service and was honorably discharged.

After Jack's honorable discharge from active duty in 1955, he was accepted into the New York City Police Department where he began his career in law enforcement. Concurrently, he rejoined the Marine Corps as a reservist, ultimately serving a total of 25 years and retiring with the rank of Master Sergeant. During that time, he participated in specialized training programs including Desert Warfare training in the Mojave Desert, Jungle Warfare School in Panama, and Cold Weather training in Norway. In 1990, Jack continued his commitment to public service by joining the Lee County Sheriff's Office in Fort Myers, Florida. He served proudly as a Deputy Sheriff and later retired with the rank of Police Sergeant.