By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo

Gyeongju City Mayor Joo Nak-young met with U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Philip Goldberg at the Gyeongju National Museum on July 14 to discuss ways to exchange and cooperate.

This is the first time U.S. Ambassador Goldberg has visited Gyeongju, and he was accompanied by Consul General Nolan Barkhouse of the U.S. Consulate in Busan.

Mayor Joo welcomed Ambassador Philip Goldberg and emphasized that Gyeongju is fully prepared to host the APEC Summit successfully.

Ambassador Philip Goldberg, who visited Gyeongju, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in May 2022 as the U.S. Ambassador to Korea and officially arrived in Korea in July of the same year.

He is the highest-ranking U.S. State Department diplomat, having served as the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines in 2015, when the Philippines held the APEC chairmanship. 

"Gyeongju's ties to the United States are very deep, as former U.S. President George W. Bush also visited Gyeongju during the 2005 APEC Summit," said Mayor Joo, emphasizing that "I look forward to sharing the experience and know-how of the United States, which has hosted the APEC Summit three times, in 1993, 2011, and 2023."

After the meeting with Mayor Joo, Goldberg toured Gyeongju's two major World Heritage sites, Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram.

Meanwhile, Gyeongju has continued to engage in various exchanges with the U.S. government and Congress, including visits by former U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert in 2015 and former Consul General of the ormer Consul General of the U.S. Consulate General in Busan Daniel Gedacht in 2019 in 2019.