List of ambassadors of Australia to South Korea

Ambassador of Australia to the Republic of Korea
Incumbent
Catherine Raper
since 17 February 2021 (2021-02-17)
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
StyleHer Excellency
Reports toMinister for Foreign Affairs
NominatorPrime Minister of Australia
AppointerGovernor General of Australia
Inaugural holderJohn Petherbridge
(as Chargé d'Affaires)
Formation5 June 1962
WebsiteAustralian Embassy, Republic of Korea
The Australian Embassy is on the 19th floor of the Kyobo Life Insurance Building, Seoul.

The ambassador of Australia to the Republic of Korea is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the Embassy of the Commonwealth of Australia to the Republic of Korea (South Korea).[1] The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and holds non-resident accreditation with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).

The current ambassador, since February 2021, is Catherine Raper. The Republic of Korea and Australia have enjoyed diplomatic relations since 1961. In June 1962, Australia opened an embassy in Seoul, and after establishing diplomatic relations with North Korea in 1974, Australia opened an embassy in Pyongyang in April 1975. The embassy closed in November 1975 and relations weren't resumed until May 2000, and the embassy in Seoul has been accredited to North Korea since August 2008, the same time accreditation with Mongolia was transferred from the Embassy in Beijing.[2][3] The Australian Government established an embassy and appointed a resident ambassador to Mongolia in 2015.[4]

List of heads of mission

Ordinal Officeholder Title Term start date Term end date Time in office Notes
(n/a) John Petherbridge Chargé d'Affaires 5 June 1962 (1962-06-05) August 1963 (1963-08) 1 year, 1 month
(n/a) Geoffrey Brady 26 August 1963 (1963-08-26) February 1964 (1964-02) 5 months
1 Roy Albert Peachey Ambassador of Australia to
the Republic of Korea 		21 February 1964 (21 February 1964) 19 June 1968 (19 June 1968) 4 years, 119 days
2 Allan Loomes 19 June 1968 (19 June 1968) 20 September 1971 (20 September 1971) 3 years, 93 days
3 Murray Bourchier 7 December 1971 (7 December 1971) 28 January 1975 (28 January 1975) 3 years, 52 days
4 John Roger Holdich 31 March 1975 (31 March 1975) 30 April 1976 (30 April 1976) 1 year, 30 days
5 Donald Jame Horne 17 June 1976 (17 June 1976) 22 June 1978 (22 June 1978) 2 years, 5 days
6 Geoff Miller 14 July 1978 (14 July 1978) 29 June 1980 (29 June 1980) 1 year, 351 days
7 Ted Pocock 12 August 1980 (12 August 1980) 10 February 1984 (10 February 1984) 3 years, 182 days
8 Lance Louis Ettelson Joseph 12 April 1984 (12 April 1984) August 1987 (August 1987) 3 years, 3 months
9 Richard Broinowski 28 October 1987 (28 October 1987) 19 December 1989 (19 December 1989) 2 years, 52 days
10 Darren Gribble 27 February 1990 (27 February 1990) December 1993 (December 1993) 3 years, 9 months
11 Mack Williams 7 March 1994 (7 March 1994) 26 March 1998 (26 March 1998) 4 years, 19 days
12 Anthony Hely March 1998 (1998-03) June 2001 (2001-06) 3 years, 3 months [5]
13 Colin Heseltine 1 August 2001 (2001-08-01) 9 December 2005 (2005-12-09) 4 years, 4 months [6]
14 Peter Brock Rowe December 2005 (2005-12) February 2009 (2009-02) 3 years, 2 months [7]
15 Sam Gerovich March 2009 (2009-03) 16 March 2013 (2013-03-16) 4 years [8]
16 Bill Paterson 16 March 2013 (2013-03-16) December 2016 (2016-12) 3 years, 8 months [9][10]
17 James Choi December 2016 (2016-12) December 2020 (2020-12) 4 years [11][12][13]
18 Catherine Raper 17 February 2021 (2021-02-17) incumbent 3 years, 331 days [14][15][16]

See also

References

  1. ^ CA 6952: Australian Embassy, Republic of Korea [Seoul], National Archives of Australia, retrieved 11 January 2016
  2. ^ "Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)". Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Mongolia country brief". Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  4. ^ Bishop, Julie (22 December 2015). "New Embassy and appointment of Ambassador to Mongolia" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 10 January 2016.
  5. ^ Downer, Alexander (3 December 1997). "Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador to the Republic of Korea" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  6. ^ Downer, Alexander (19 March 2001). "Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador to the Republic of Korea" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  7. ^ Downer, Alexander (18 October 2005). "Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador to the Republic of Korea" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  8. ^ Smith, Stephen (18 November 2008). "Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador to the Republic of Korea" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015.
  9. ^ Carr, Bob (15 March 2013). "Ambassador to the Republic of Korea" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016.
  10. ^ "Ambassador to Korea (Republic of) - Mr Bill Paterson PSM". Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  11. ^ Bishop, Julie (9 November 2016). "Ambassador to Korea" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016.
  12. ^ "Mr James Choi as Australia's next Ambassador to the Republic of Korea". SBS. 10 November 2016.
  13. ^ Seung-woo, Kang (11 November 2016). "Korean-born Aussie named new Australian ambassador to Seoul". The Korea Times.
  14. ^ "Ambassador to the Republic of Korea" (Press release). Minister for Foreign Affairs. 16 December 2020.
  15. ^ "Ambassador to the Republic of Korea". Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  16. ^ "Australia's envoy in Seoul". Yonhap News Agency. Korea. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2022.