White House nominates Julie Chung as U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

President Joe Biden has nominated Julie Chung as Ambassador to represent the United States (US) in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, the White House announced yesterday.

Julie Jiyoon Chung, nominee as Ambassador to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and to serve concurrently as Ambassador to the Republic of Maldives is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor and is currently serving as the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

She was previously Director of the Office of Japanese Affairs at the Department. She has served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. Earlier, Chung was Chief of Staff to the Transition Coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. She has also served at the U.S. embassies in Colombia, Vietnam and Japan, and the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou, China. She is a Pickering Fellow.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Chung earned a B.A. at the University of California-San Diego and an M.A. at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Secretary’s Distinguished Honor Award. Chung speaks Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Khmer.

If the U.S. Senate confirms her appointment, Chung will be replacing the current Ambassador Alaina B. Teplitz, who began her tenure as the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives on 1 November 2018.