Yuri Kim took her oath as US Ambassador to Albania, according to the Voice of America.
Ambassador Yuri Kim was appointed by US President, Donald Trump, in May 2019.
In her speech, Kim said that she would encourage the leaders of Albania to resolve the current political stalemate.
According to Kim, this would improve the perspective for opening the EU accession negotiations.
Mrs.Kim also said that she would encourage Albania to implement the judiciary reform.
One of her priorities will be offering technical assistance for investigating, prosecuting and punishing corruption and international organized crime.
Kim is also expected to encourage Albania to raise the defense spending to 2% of the GDP within 24.
Mrs.Yuri Kim is the first Korean-American woman who represents the USA as an ambassador, and the first person from the US territory of Guam that serves in such a duty.
Yuri Kim, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Counselor, has served as the Director of the Office of Southern European Affairs, in the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs since 2018.
Previously, she was the Director of the State Department’s Center for the Study of Diplomacy, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State, and Director of the Office of European Security and Political-Military Affairs.
Earlier in her career, she was Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and a member of the U.S. delegation to the Six-Party Talks to end North Korea’s nuclear program.
Overseas, Ms. Kim served as the Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq and then at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Kim served as the Chief of the DPRK Unit in the Office of Korean Affairs in the Department of State and before that in the Political Section of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, where she led the team dealing with the internal politics there.
She also had assignments as a Special Assistant, Office of the Secretary of State, and in the U.S. Embassies in Tokyo, Japan and Beijing, China.
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