Photo: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff / CC BY 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Kang Kyung-hwa

康京和　/　かん・ぎょんふぁ

Diplomat from South Korea

April 7, 1955 (age 71)　・　Seoul, South Korea

diplomat
politician
announcer

My Take

Kang Kyung-wha is a genuine trailblazer, and the firsts stack up fast: first woman to serve as South Korea's Foreign Minister, first Korean woman in a senior United Nations post. I followed her tenure under Moon Jae-in from 2017, and her calm, fluent handling of the early pandemic diplomacy earned her international respect that outran her domestic critics. The data tags her American, which she isn't, she's Seoul-born 1955, though she studied at UMass Amherst. What I admire is a career built on competence in rooms not designed for her. A serious figure in modern Korean statecraft.

Overview

Kang Kyung-wha (Korean: 강경화; born April 7, 1955) is a South Korean diplomat and politician who was the first female Foreign Minister of South Korea under President Moon Jae-in from 2017 to 2021 as well as the first woman nominated for and appointed to the position. She is also the first South Korean woman to hold a high-level position in the United Nations.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1. Profile

Name (English): Kang Kyung-hwa
Name (Japanese): 康京和
Reading: かん・ぎょんふぁ
Born: April 7, 1955 (age 71)
Zodiac / Chinese zodiac: Aries / Goat
Origin: Seoul, South Korea
Blood type: Private
Height: Private
Agency: Private
Occupation: diplomat / politician / announcer

2. Background

Elementary school: Private
Junior high: Private
High school: Private
University: University of Massachusetts Amherst

3. Relationships

Spouse: Private
Children: Private
Parents: Private
Siblings: Private

4. Personality

Motto

Private

6. Links

Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%B7%E4%BA%AC%E5%92%8C

Diplomat — see all →　·　Politician — see all →　·　More people from South Korea →