Philip S. Goldberg

Philip Seth Goldberg (born August 1, 1956) is an American diplomat and government official who has served as United States ambassador to South Korea since 2022. He served previously as ambassador to the Philippines, Bolivia and Colombia and chief of the U.S. mission in UN-administered Kosovo during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. He has served in Washington as assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research. In 2022, he was nominated by President Joe Biden to be the U.S. ambassador to South Korea and was confirmed on May 5, 2022 by the United States Senate through voice vote.

Philip S. Goldberg
United States Ambassador to South Korea
Assumed office
July 12, 2022
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byHarry B. Harris Jr.
United States Ambassador to Colombia
In office
September 19, 2019 – June 1, 2022
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byKevin Whitaker
Succeeded byPaco Palmieri
(Chargé d'Affaires)
United States Ambassador to Cuba
Acting
In office
February 11, 2018 – July 20, 2018
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byLawrence Gumbiner
Succeeded byMara Tekach
United States Ambassador to the Philippines
In office
December 2, 2013 – October 28, 2016
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byHarry K. Thomas Jr.
Succeeded bySung Kim
Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research
In office
February 16, 2010 – November 21, 2013
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byRandall Fort
Succeeded byDaniel Smith
United States Ambassador to Bolivia
In office
October 13, 2006 – September 14, 2008
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byDavid Greenlee
Succeeded byKrishna Urs (Acting)
Chief of Mission of the U.S. Office in Pristina
In office
July 28, 2004 – July 4, 2006
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byMarcie Ries
Succeeded byTina Kaidanow
United States Ambassador to Chile
Acting
In office
July 23, 2001 – March 25, 2002
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byJohn O'Leary
Succeeded byWilliam Brownfield
Personal details
Born
Philip Seth Goldberg

(1956-08-01) August 1, 1956
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma materBoston University

From June 2009 until June 2010, he was Coordinator for Implementation of UNSC Resolution 1874 (Sanctions) on North Korea. He has also been Charge d'affaires, a.i. at the U.S. embassies in Chile and Cuba during the Bush and Donald Trump administrations, respectively. Goldberg holds the personal rank of career ambassador, the highest in the U.S. Foreign Service.

Early life and education

Goldberg was born on August 1, 1956.[1] A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Goldberg is a graduate of The Rivers School and Boston University.[2] Before joining the Foreign Service, Goldberg worked as a liaison officer between the city government of New York City and the United Nations and consular community.[2]

Department of State appointments
U.S. ambassador to the Philippines Philip S. Goldberg welcomes U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to Manila, Philippines, for his two-day visit on December 17, 2013

Goldberg served overseas as a consular and political officer at the U.S. embassy in Bogota, Colombia, and political-economic officer in Pretoria, South Africa.[2]

From 1994 to 1996, Goldberg served as the State Department's Desk Officer for Bosnia and a special assistant to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke.[2]

As special assistant to Ambassador Holbrooke, Goldberg was a member of the American negotiating team in the lead-up to the Dayton Peace Conference and Chief of Staff for the American Delegation at Dayton.[2] From 1996 to 1998, Goldberg served as Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State.[2]

From 1998 to 2000, he served as executive assistant to Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott.[2] In 2001, Goldberg served as a senior member of the State Department team handling the transition from the Clinton to Bush administrations.[2]

In 2000, Goldberg returned on temporary duty to Colombia to serve as the first coordinator for the U.S. contribution to Plan Colombia.

From January 2001 to June 2001, Goldberg served as acting deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs.[2] From 2001 to 2004 he served as charge d'affaires, a.i. and then deputy chief of mission in Chile.

Goldberg during a meeting with Philippine-born entrepreneur Jonha Richman in the Philippines in 2015

In September 2008, he was declared persona non grata and expelled from Bolivia, where he had served as U.S. ambassador.[3][4]

In 2018, Goldberg served as charge d'affaires, a.i. at the United States embassy in Cuba. He has received numerous honors for his work including Presidential Distinguished and Meritorious Rank awards, the State Department's Distinguished Honor Award, and the U.S. Intelligence Community's Silver Seal Medallion.

Goldberg at the U.S.-Colombia High-Level Dialogue in October 2021

On May 6, 2019, President Donald Trump nominated Goldberg to be the United States ambassador to Colombia.[5] On August 1, 2019, the Senate confirmed his nomination by voice vote.[6] He presented his credentials to President Iván Duque Márquez on September 19, 2019.[7]

United States ambassador to South Korea

On February 11, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Goldberg to be the next United States ambassador to South Korea.[8] On February 14, 2022, his nomination was sent to the Senate.[9] Hearings on his nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 7, 2022. The committee favorably reported his nomination to the Senate floor on May 4, 2022. He was confirmed by the entire Senate on May 5, 2022, via voice vote.[10] Goldberg arrived in the country on July 10, 2022, and presented his credentials to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 12.[11]

Personal life

Goldberg is fluent in Spanish.[2]

See also

References
  1. "Goldberg, Philip S., 1956-". Library of Congress Authorities. 2010.
  2. United States Department of State. "Biography of Philip S. Goldberg". September 22, 2006.
  3. "U.S. Diplomat Tells Why He Was Ousted From Bolivia". Newsweek. September 19, 2008. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  4. "U.S. to send ambassador to Bolivia for first time in over a decade". Reuters. January 23, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  5. "Three Nominations Sent to the Senate". whitehouse.gov. May 1, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via National Archives.
  6. "PN715 — Philip S. Goldberg — Department of State". United States Congress. August 1, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  7. "El embajador Philip S. Goldberg presentó sus credenciales al presidente Duque". Facebook. September 19, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  8. "President Biden Announces 2 Diplomatic Nominees" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. February 11, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. "Press Release: Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. February 14, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. "PN1778 - Nomination of Philip S. Goldberg for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. May 5, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  11. Yonhap (July 12, 2022). "New US ambassador presents copy of credentials to foreign ministry". The Korean Times. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
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