List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to South Korea

His Majesty's Ambassador to South Korea
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom
British diplomatic flag
Incumbent Colin Crooks since March 2022
Foreign and Commonwealth Office British Embassy in Seoul
Style	His Excellency
Reports to	Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Residence	Sejong-daero 19-gil 24, Jung-gu, Seoul
Appointer	The Crown on advice of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holder	Vyvyan Holt Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Formation	1949
Deputy	Sue Kinoshita, Minister Counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission and Director of UK Trade and Investment
Salary	£95,000-£100,000 [1]
Website	British Embassy Seoul

The British ambassador to South Korea is in charge of the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to South Korea. The official title is His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (ROK).

History

Under the Imperial Chinese tributary system, Korea was a tributary state to China. After the United Kingdom–Korea Treaty of 1883 British Ministers to China were appointed as "Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the Emperor of China, and also Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of Corea." Britain also appointed consuls-general to be resident in Seoul, but they were not heads of mission, as the head of mission was the minister in Peking (now Beijing). In 1898, following the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), the Korean Empire became independent of China, and Britain appointed a chargé d'affaires who became Minister Resident when the United Kingdom and Korea exchanged envoys in 1901.

Consul-General in Seoul

British representative to Joseon (until 1897) and later Korean Empire (after 1897).

• 1884–1885: William George Aston ^[2]
• 1889–1896: Walter Hillier ^[3]
• 1896–1898: John Jordan ^[4]

Head of mission to Korea

Minister to China, non-resident Minister to Korea

Holders were station in Beijing.

• 1884–1885: Sir Harry Smith Parkes ^[5]
• 1885–1892: Sir John Walsham, 2nd Baronet ^[6]
• 1892–1895: Sir Nicholas O'Conor ^[7]
• 1896–1898: Sir Claude MacDonald ^[8]

Chargé d'affaires

• 1898–1901: John Jordan ^[9]

Minister Resident

• 1901–1905: Sir John Jordan ^[10]

Under the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 Korea became a protectorate of Japan, and Britain and other countries withdrew diplomatic missions from Seoul. After World War II Japan's rule ended and Korea was occupied by the Soviet Union and United States, resulting in division of Korea between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea).

Korea under Japanese rule

From 1910 to 1945 Korea was under Dependent territory of the Empire of Japan, thus no longer required a diplomatic mission.

Head of mission to South Korea

The current mission represents South Korea, while the ambassador for North Korea did not exist until 2000.

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

• 1949–1954: Captain Vyvyan Holt (consul-general from 1948). ^{[11] [12]}
• 1954–1956: Charles Stewart ^[13]
• 1957: Hubert Evans ^[14]

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

• 1957–1961: Hubert Evans ^[15]
• 1961–1966: Sir Walter Godfrey ^[16]
• 1967–1969: Ian Clayton Mackenzie ^[17]
• 1969–1971: Nigel Trench ^[18]
• 1971–1974: Jeffrey Petersen ^[19]
• 1975–1980: William Bates ^[20]
• 1980–1983: John Morgan ^[21]
• 1983–1986: Nicholas Spreckley
• 1986–1990: Lawrence Middleton
• 1990–1993: David Wright
• 1994–1997: Thomas Harris ^[22]
• 1997–2000: Sir Stephen Brown ^[23]
• 2000–2003: Charles Humfrey ^[24]
• 2003–2008: Warwick Morris ^[25]
• 2008–2011: Martin Uden
• 2011–2015: Scott Wightman ^{[26] [27]}
• 2015–2018: Charles Hay ^[28]
• 2018–2022 ^[update] : Simon Smith ^[29]
• 2022–present: Colin Crooks ^[30]

See also

• List of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom
• List of diplomatic missions in South Korea
• List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to North Korea

Notes

1. "Senior staff and salary data, September 2019 - GOV.UK". gov.uk. Foreign and Commonwealth Office . Retrieved 3 March 2021.
2. Kornicki, Peter, "Aston, Cambridge and Korea". Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2010., Cambridge University, Department of East Asian Studies, 2008.
3. Addison, Henry Robert. (1901). Who's Who Vol. 53, p.568 , p. 568, at Google Books; compare Note 12
4. Kit-ching Chan Lau, Anglo-Chinese Diplomacy 1906–1920: In the Careers of Sir John Jordan and Yuan Shih-kai, Hong Kong University Press, 1978
5. "No. 25326". The London Gazette . 7 March 1884. p. 1133.
6. "No. 25539". The London Gazette. 15 December 1885. p. 6066.
7. "No. 26281". The London Gazette. 22 April 1892. p. 2360.
8. "No. 26706". The London Gazette. 4 February 1896. p. 645.
9. "No. 26952". The London Gazette. 29 March 1898. p. 2021.
10. "No. 27344". The London Gazette. 9 August 1901. p. 5256.
11. "No. 38660". The London Gazette. 8 July 1949. p. 3344.
12. "No. 38702". The London Gazette. 30 August 1949. p. 4189.
13. "No. 40438". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 March 1955. p. 1780.
14. "No. 41067". The London Gazette. 10 May 1957. p. 2792.
15. "No. 41200". The London Gazette. 11 October 1957. p. 5919.
16. "No. 42346". The London Gazette. 5 May 1961. p. 3340.
17. "No. 44448". The London Gazette. 10 November 1967. p. 12218.
18. "No. 44830". The London Gazette. 18 April 1969. p. 4100.
19. "No. 45588". The London Gazette. 1 February 1972. p. 1282.
20. "No. 46566". The London Gazette. 6 May 1975. p. 5874.
21. "No. 48486". The London Gazette. 8 January 1981. p. 269.
22. UKIndia Business Council (UKIBC), Executive Board
23. The Diplomatic Service List 2005, page 138, Foreign & Commonwealth Office
24. "British Diplomats Directory" (PDF). gulabin.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
25. Barclay, Jennifer. A diplomatic career in Korea, Anglo-Korean Society. 14 May 2008.
26. UK in the Republic of Korea, Our ambassador
27. Scott Wightman (1 January 2015). "Tweet by Scott Wightman". Twitter. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
28. Charles Hay, British Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, gov.uk
29. "New U.K. Ambassador No Stranger to Korea". The Chosun Ilbo . 22 March 2018.
30. "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Republic of Korea". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 July 2021.

References

• Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of Armament, Washington, D.C., 1921-1922. (1922). Korea's Appeal to the Conference on Limitation of Armament. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 12923609

External links

• UK and South Korea, gov.uk