Former Ambassador Lippert becomes ‘Googler’

Former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert has become a “Googler.” According to Google Korea on Tuesday, he was appointed as YouTube Asia-Pacific’s public policy chief last month. Based in Singapore, he is in charge of public policy strategies and represents the company to the Korean and other Asian nations.

Lippert became the youngest U.S. ambassador to South Korea in October 2014 during the Obama administration. In March the following year, he was attacked by a knife-wielding man called Kim Ki-jong who stabbed him six times including in his face at an event. He garnered much attention after he tweeted on the same day that he was moved by the support of the Korean public, saying, “Let’s go together” in Korean.

Lippert is also known for his love for South Korea. He gave his son and daughter who were born in the country during his term ambassador lippert “Se-jun” and “Se-hee” as their middle names. He shed tears as he stepped down in January 2017 following the inauguration of the Trump administration, saying that it is difficult to leave behind the welcome he received from the Korean public.

After resignation, he worked as the vice president of Boeing International and as a senior adviser of Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a well-known think tank based in Washington D.C.


Ji-Sun Choi aurinko@donga.com