Ambassador Julie J. Chung officially began her tenure as the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka today after presenting her credentials to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The ceremony took place at the official residence of President Rajapaksa today (25). “I am honored to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and I look forward to working with the government and the people of this country to strengthen democracy, increase prosperity, and ensure a healthy, connected, and secure future for all,” said Ambassador Chung. Ambassador Chung most recently served as the Acting Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. She also has extensive experience in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, including as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Japan, Deputy Chief of Mission in Cambodia, and Economic Counselor in Thailand. In addition, she has served at the U.S. embassies in Iraq, Colombia, Vietnam, and Japan, and the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China. She also served as an advisor on nonproliferation discussions of the agreed framework with North Korea while working in the Office of Korean Affairs in Washington. Ms. Chung is from Huntington Beach, California and joined the Foreign Service in 1996 in the first cohort of the Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship program. She received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California San Diego and an M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University. Ms. Chung has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Secretary’s Distinguished Honor Award, and speaks Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Khmer. [foogallery id="190840"]