Tong Soo Chung, J.D.

T.S. Chung is the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Service Industries and Finance (SIF) in the International Trade Administration of the United States Department of Commerce since February 14, 2000. The Deputy Assistant Secretary is responsible for the management of three program divisions, the Office of Finance, the Office of Service Industries and the Office of Export Trading Company Affairs. The mission of the Service Industries and Finance Unit is to develop and implement strategies and programs to enhance the international commerce position and capabilities of U.S. business and industry. The Office of Finance (OF) and the Office of Service Industries (OSI) assist U.S. firms through the entire export process identifying and development export opportunities, advising and counseling firms, leading trade missions and advocating before foreign governments and regulatory authorities.

Before coming to SIF, Mr. Chung served as the Director of the Advocacy Center, also located within the International Trade Administration, since February 1995. The Advocacy Center levels the playing field for U.S. exporters who are competing for international procurement contracts by providing the support of the U.S. government.

As Director, Mr. Chung coordinated the activities of the 19 U.S. Government agencies in the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC), to assist U.S. companies as they compete for primarily infrastructure-related projects overseas. Since the Center was established in November 1993, the Center has assisted U.S. companies win more than 400 projects valued in excess of $120 billion. These projects are primarily in the electrical power, oil and gas, telecommunications, aerospace, transportation, infrastructure and environment sectors. Mr. Chung has worked with more than 750 companies and more than 1,600 projects. The Advocacy Center levels the playing field for U.S. exporters who are competing for international procurement contracts by providing the support of high-level U.S. government officials, including Ambassadors, Cabinet and White House officials.

Prior to being Director of the Advocacy Center, Mr. Chung served as Director of the Office of Export Promotion and Coordination, International Trade Administration, for one year.

Before joining the Clinton Administration, Mr. Chung founded the law firm of Kim, Chung & Lim in 1986 (now Lim, Ruger & Kim), in Los Angeles, California, where he specialized in the practice of commercial law. Prior to the founding of his firm, Mr. Chung was an associate at the firm of Whitman & Ransom in Los Angeles between 1984 and 1986. In 1980 and 1981, Mr. Chung was a financial analyst in the Treasurer's Department of Exxon Corporation, specializing in international financial and economic planning and analysis. Mr. Chung also worked at the World Bank Bangladesh Division during the summer of 1979.

Mr. Chung has been very active in California community affairs. Prior to his Presidential appointment, Mr. Chung served as Commissioner of the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System from 1991-1993 and chairman of the investment committee of that commission during 1992-1993 as an appointee of the former Mayor Tom Bradley. The Pension System had approximately $5 billion in assets in 1993, and the seven Commissioners oversaw the management of the assets including the hiring and firing of outside asset management firms. Mr. Chung also served as Commissioner of the California Postsecondary Education Commission during 1992-1993; Commissioner of the Los Angeles County Private Industry Council from 1988-1992; and was a member of the State of California's Economic Development's Advisory Committee on Asia from 1989-1991.

In addition, Mr. Chung served on the Board of Directors of RLA (previously Rebuild L.A.) since the Los Angeles riots in 1992 and the Constitutional Rights Foundation since 1992. He is a founding board member of The Ethnic Coalition and was the founding President of the Korean American Coalition. He also served as a board member of Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics and the United Way in Los Angeles, and was a founding member of the Black-Korean Alliance of Los Angeles.

Mr. Chung received his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law in 1984. He also received a Masters Degree in Public Affairs from Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1980, and Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University in 1977, and graduated from Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, in 1973. Mr. Chung is married and has 2 daughters, ages 14 and 16.

[Source: Institute of Korean-American Studies, with permission from T.S. Chung]