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The Embassy of South Korea in London |
Contact
Address
60 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6AJ
Phone Number
020 7227 5500
Website
overseas.mofa.go.kr/gb-en/index.do
E-Mail
koreanembinuk@mofa.go.kr
The Ambassador
H.E. Mr. Kim Heung-chong
H.E. Mr. Kim Heung-chong is an exceptionally brilliant macroeconomic theorist, international trade negotiator, and senior state advisor who stands at the very forefront of South Korea's modern economic statecraft. He was officially appointed to lead the London mission by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 17, 2026, bringing unparalleled technical expertise to the Court of St James's.
Ambassador Kim possesses a stellar academic pedigree, having read economics at the highly prestigious Seoul National University before completing advanced doctoral research at the University of Oxford. His deep institutional familiarity with the United Kingdom was further solidified early in his career when he was named an Honorary Member of the High Table at Christ Church, Oxford.
Over a multi-decade public career, Ambassador Kim has operated at the absolute nucleus of South Korea’s global economic policies. He served as the President of the state-run Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) from 2020 to 2023, steering the nation's premier analytical engine on global supply chain vulnerabilities and macroeconomic restructuring. A foundational architect of South Korea's international market integration, he served as a key advisor to the government during the complex Korea-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, and chaired the Economy and Trade Division of the Korea-China Committee for the Future.
Known for his formidable strategic forecasting, he has advised various ministries on the G20, APEC, ASEM, and post-Brexit policy alignments. Before his top-tier diplomatic deployment to Whitehall, he served on the National Economic Advisory Council, anchoring core strategies for inclusive innovation and technological growth.
History
Bilateral ties between the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom are structurally paramount, exceptionally vibrant, and experiencing a historic era of integration, anchored by the sweeping Downing Street Accord signed during the state visit to London. The embassy operates out of a modernized corporate complex at 60 Buckingham Gate in Westminster, while the Ambassador’s historic residence stands prominently at Palace Gate in Kensington. The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in London serves as a high-powered operational command center for executing advanced semiconductor statecraft, Euro-Atlantic defense synchronization, and massive digital finance alliances between Seoul and Whitehall. Under Ambassador Kim’s specialized background in trade negotiations and macroeconomic strategy, a foremost mandate of the mission is upgrading and modernizing the UK-Korea Free Trade Agreement, expanding market fluidity in high-tech digital trade, AI safety governance, and clean energy supply chains.
Commercially, the embassy works seamlessly with the City of London—recently highlighted by high-level briefings with the Lady Mayor of London—to deepen bilateral capital collaboration and advance the modernization of sovereign capital markets. Furthermore, the mission orchestrates world-class cultural statecraft via the heavily active Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) based on the Strand, while running a highly digitized consular division that manages visa frameworks and passport processing to support the large, deeply integrated South Korean corporate, academic, and creative diaspora community thriving across the British Isles.
