Becoming Ambassador

On March 25, 1981, President Ronald Reagan called the Walker family while they were on vacation at their summer home in South Carolina. During that phone call, the President asked: “Dr. Walker, will you agree to be my next ambassador to the Republic of Korea?” Walker enthusiastically agreed. On July 24, 1981, Richard Louis Walker was officially sworn-in as Ambassador to the Republic of Korea. His political connections and academic pursuits over the previous 35 years had established Walker as an expert in international relations and as someone with the diplomatic character to take on such a position. Walker had been recommended to Reagan by Senator Strom Thurmond, among others. His reputation as a scholar helped to ensure his tenure as ambassador to an area of the world that was in a period of change and even upheaval. The announcement of Walker as ambassador received particular attention in his home state of South Carolina. Richard and Ceny Walker arrived in Seoul on July 31, 1981 and began their time with a press conference that allowed all of Korea to meet the new ambassador and his wife. It was the beginning of a tenure that, to this day, stands as the longest-serving ambassadorship to South Korea from the United States.