Kathleen Stephens was the United States ambassador to South Korea from 2008 to 2011.
Stephens was born in west Texas and grew up in New Mexico and Arizona. She holds a B.A. in East Asian studies from Prescott College and a Master's degree from Harvard University, and also studied at Oxford University. After college, she was a Peace Corps volunteer in South Korea's Yesan, South Chungcheong from 1975–1977; it was then that she was given her Korean ...
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Kathleen Stephens was the United States ambassador to South Korea from 2008 to 2011.
Stephens was born in west Texas and grew up in New Mexico and Arizona. She holds a B.A. in East Asian studies from Prescott College and a Master's degree from Harvard University, and also studied at Oxford University. After college, she was a Peace Corps volunteer in South Korea's Yesan, South Chungcheong from 1975–1977; it was then that she was given her Korean name Shim Eungyeong (심은경). She later lived in Hong Kong as an exchange student at the University of Hong Kong and an instructor with Outward Bound. She speaks Korean and Serbo-Croatian, with limited competence in Cantonese and Mandarin.
Stephens joined the United States Foreign Service in 1978. Early in her career, Stephens served at U.S. missions in the People's Republic of China (1980–1982) and in Trinidad and Tobago (1978–1980). Her tour of duty in South Korea included roles as internal political unit chief at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul ...
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