Song Hwan Kong

Executive Director of the Korea Law Center

Song Hwan Kwon is the Executive Director of the Korea Law Center at UC Irvine School of Law. A distinguished former senior diplomat with over two decades of service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the Republic of Korea, Mr. Kwon brings extensive high-level experience in foreign policy, public diplomacy, national security, and international legal affairs to the Center. 

Prior to joining the Korea Law Center, Mr. Kwon served in key diplomatic posts worldwide, including Deputy Consul General / Deputy Chief of Mission in Los Angeles, Istanbul, and Boston. Throughout his diplomatic career, he played a pivotal role in strengthening ROK–U.S. strategic alliance initiatives, fostering academic and cultural partnerships with premier institutions - including Harvard University, Tufts Fletcher School, and UC Irvine, UCSD, UCLA and contributing to enhancing Korean government’s capacities in public diplomacy in the United States. 

At Seoul’s Headquarters of MOFA, Mr. Kwon served as Assistant Secretary to the President in both the Office of National Security and the Office of the President (Protocol), where he coordinated inter-ministerial foreign policy, presidential briefings, and state visits for foreign heads of government. He also served as Director of the North American Division II at MOFA in Seoul, overseeing public diplomacy strategies and U.S. Congressional engagement. 

He holds an LL.M. from UC Irvine School of Law, an MPIA from the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, and he graduated Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. He passed the High Diplomatic Service Examination in 1998 and is a two-time recipient of the Presidential Citation of the Republic of Korea (2012, 2022).