Donald Phinney Gregg (born December 5, 1927) is a retired American politician, CIA employee, and U.S. Ambassador to South Korea. Gregg worked for the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

for 31 years, from 1951 to 1982. He was a

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

advisor (1979–1982) and National Security Advisor to U.S. Vice President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

(1982–1989),

United States Ambassador to Korea The United States Ambassador to South Korea () is the chief diplomatic representative of the United States accredited to the Republic of Korea. The ambassador's official title is "Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States ...

(1989–1993), and the chairman of the board of The

Korea Society Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

(until 2009), where he called for greater engagement with

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

Background and family life

After graduating from high school, Gregg enlisted in the military in 1945 and received training as a

cryptanalyst Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic sec ...

, but did not finish in time to be posted overseas.

Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) is a United States non-profit organization established in 1986 by retired Foreign Service officers. It produces and shares oral histories by American diplomats and facilitates the publica ...

, 3 March 2004,
Interview
He then attended

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

, in

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

, from 1947 to 1951, majoring in philosophy. Here he was recruited by the CIA. Gregg's father was Abel J. Gregg of Washington, the national secretary of boys' work of the

Young Men's Christian Association YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

. His wife was Margaret Curry. Their daughter Lucy Steuart Gregg married the writer Christopher Buckley, the son of conservative journalist and author

William F. Buckley Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...

His nephew is

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

ing pioneer and former

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Adam Curry Adam Clark Curry (born September 3, 1964) is an American podcaster, announcer, Internet entrepreneur and media personality, known for his stint as a VJ on MTV and being one of the first celebrities to personally create and administer Web sites. ...

Career

Gregg joined the

in 1951. He served in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from 1964 to 1973. Gregg served as CIA

station chief A station chief is a government official who is the head of a team, post or function usually in a foreign country. Historically it commonly referred to the head of a defensible structure such as an ambassador's residence or colonial outpost. In G ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

from 1973 to 1975, an assignment he personally requested. During this time Gregg's personal complaint to the head of the presidential protective force about the Korean National Intelligence Service's involvement in the death by torture of a dissident U.S.-trained professor led to its chief,

Lee Hu-rak Lee Hu-rak (23 February 1924 – October 31, 2009) was a South Korean politician, diplomat and the Director of the Korea Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) of South Korea from 1970 to 1973. In 1972, during his time as Director of the KCIA, ...

, being replaced, and his successor enacting a prohibition on torture. Gregg, noting that his boss,

Ted Shackley Theodore George "Ted" Shackley, Jr. (July 16, 1927 – December 9, 2002) was an American CIA officer involved in many important and controversial CIA operations during the 1960s and 1970s. He is one of the most decorated CIA officers. Due to his ...

, had warned him against such interference, later described this as "one of the best things I did as a CIA officer". From 1975 to 1980, Gregg served at the CIA's headquarters and in Washington, D.C.; his responsibilities included responding to the "Pike Committee" investigating the CIA. In 1979 Gregg, his career in the CIA stalled by

Stansfield Turner Stansfield Turner (December 1, 1923 January 18, 2018) was an admiral in the United States Navy who served as President of the Naval War College (1972–1974), commander of the United States Second Fleet (1974–1975), Supreme Allied Commander N ...

's new regime, took a post in the

United States National Security Council The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Execu ...

(NSC) as Asia policy and intelligence matters specialist. He remained there during the transition from the Carter administration to the Reagan administration, and became Director of the NSC's Intelligence Directorate in 1981. He was appointed National Security Advisor to Vice President

in August 1982, resigning from the CIA at this time. He remained National Security Advisor for the remainder of the Reagan administration. Walsh, Lawrence E.
Chapter 29 "Donald P. Gregg"
Final Report of the

Independent Counsel The Office of Special Counsel was an office of the United States Department of Justice established by provisions in the Ethics in Government Act that expired in 1999. The provisions were replaced by Department of Justice regulation 28 CFR Part ...

for Iran/Contra Matters, Vol. 1, August 4, 1993 (Washington, D.C.,

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...

.) Report via

Federation of American Scientists The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is an American nonprofit global policy think tank with the stated intent of using science and scientific analysis to attempt to make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1946 by scientists who wo ...

' website ''fas.org''.

Maxwell School at Syracuse University

Gregg, while at the Korea Society during President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

's administration, helped establish a program "of bringing North Koreans for information technology training and other issues" to Maxwell. Following a North Korean nuclear agreement with the United States in February 2012, North Korea's vice foreign minister and envoy to nuclear disarmament negotiations Ri Yong Ho reportedly planned to attend a forum at Maxwell. Gregg also appeared on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

News Hour to discuss the agreement with Balbina Hwang, visiting professor at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and a Korea specialist at the State Department during the last Bush administration. In September 2009, Gregg retired to the role of chairman emeritus of The Korea Society and was replaced as chairman by

Thomas C. Hubbard Thomas C. Hubbard (born 1943 in Kentucky) is a diplomat and former U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines (1996–2000) and South Korea (2001–04). He is currently a Senior Director for Asia at McLarty Associates and Chairman of The Korea Society ...

. In 2014, Gregg published '' Pot Shards: Fragments of a Life Lived in CIA, the White House, and the Two Koreas'' , a memoir.

Awards

National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal The National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal (NIDSM) is a decoration awarded for service to the United States Intelligence Community. The decoration is awarded to any member or contributor to the National Intelligence Community, either c ...

American Committees on Foreign Relations
Donald P. Gregg
*

Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service The Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service is the highest award that is presented by the Secretary of Defense, to a private citizen, politician, non-career federal employee, or foreign national. It is presented for exception ...

* Honorary PhD in international relations from

Sogang University Sogang University (SU, Hangul: 서강대학교 Hanja: 西江大學校, literally "West River University") is one of the most prestigious private research universities in Seoul, South Korea. It was established in 1960 by the Wisconsin Province of ...

Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service The Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service is the second highest award presented by the Secretary of Defense to non-career Federal employees, private citizens, and foreign nationals for contributions, assistance, or support to D ...

(2001)Simon Moss, ''Cornell Chronicle'', 31 March 2004
Former U.S. ambassador to Korea will give Bartels Lecture at Cornell, April 12
/ref>

References

External links

*
Interview with AsiaSource
January 22, 2006.

PBS, February 20, 2003.

February 4, 2003. * ttps://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/july-dec97/skorea_12-19.html News Hour interview PBS, December 19, 1997. * : July 5, 2006 (26 m.); January 6, 2003 (10 m.). {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregg, Donald 1927 births Ambassadors of the United States to South Korea Buckley family Living people People of the Central Intelligence Agency Williams College alumni Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs