Kathleen Stephens
Encyclopedia
Early life
Stephens was born in west TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and grew up in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. She holds a B.A. in East Asian studies from Prescott College
Prescott College
Prescott College is a private liberal arts college in Prescott, Arizona, founded in 1966. It is a non-profit organization which has an undergraduate body of roughly 800 students, and an average student to faculty ratio of 7:1 in on-campus classrooms...
and a Master's degree from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and also studied at Oxford University. After college, she was a Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
volunteer in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
'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
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
as an exchange student at the University of Hong Kong and an instructor with Outward Bound
Outward Bound
Outward Bound is an international, non-profit, independent, outdoor educationorganization with approximately 40 schools around the world and 200,000 participants per year...
. She speaks Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
and Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian language
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
, with limited competence in Cantonese and Mandarin.
Career
Stephens joined the United States Foreign ServiceUnited States Foreign Service
The United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
in 1978. Early in her career, Stephens served at U.S. missions in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
(1980–1982) and in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
(1978–1980). Her tour of duty in South Korea included roles as internal political unit chief at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul (1984–1987) and Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
(1987–1989). Afterwards, she worked as a political officer at the U.S. missions in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
and Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
(1991–1992), senior desk officer for the United Kingdom in the Bureau of European Affairs (1992–1994), Director for European Affairs at the United States National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
, 1994–1995, Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, 1995–1998, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, 1998–2001, and Director of the Office of Ecology and Terrestrial Conservation at the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, 2001-2003.
Stephens assumed her duties as Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs on December 5, 2003, during which her primary responsibility was policy oversight and management of relations with the countries of South-Central Europe. Following that, she assumed her duties as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in June 2005. In that capacity she was responsible for a variety of Bureau-wide issues, including post management. She had particular responsibility for the management of U.S. relations with Japan and Korea.
Stephens grew up in the American Southwest and now calls western Montana home.
Confirmation as Ambassador
Sam Brownback
Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...
lifted his objection to the nomination of Stephens to be the US ambassador to South Korea, removing a key obstacle to her confirmation. Brownback had been blocking Stephens' nomination over human rights concerns in North Korea and how they were being addressed in the six-nation North Korean nuclear negotiations. On August 1, 2008 the US Senate confirmed Stephens' nomination as US ambassador to South Korea one day after Senator Brownback dropped his opposition to Stephens.
Stephens' tenure is set to end, with the U.S. Senate's October 13, 2011 confirmation of Sung Kim
Sung Kim
Sung Kim is a United States diplomat. He currently serves as the U.S. Special Envoy for the Six-Party Talks and has been confirmed to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea...
to be ambassador to South Korea.
Arrival in South Korea
On October 8, 2008 Stephens presented her credentials to President Lee Myung-bakLee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak is the President of South Korea. Prior to his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction and the mayor of Seoul. He is married to Kim Yoon-ok and has three daughters and one son. His older brother is Lee Sang-deuk, a South Korean politician. He attends the...
of South Korea. The Chosun Ilbo reported that Stephens spoke to Lee in fluent Korean during parts of their meeting and said she would strengthen ties between the two countries. On October 9, 2008 Stephens visited Yesan Middle School where she had taught as a Peace Corps volunteer 33 years before. "Yesan is where I learned the qualities I needed to be a diplomat," said Stephens. "I had warm-hearted colleagues who were out there for me, and students who studied hard despite many difficulties. I learned how to endure hardships and convince others, which is essential for a diplomat."