John Joseph Muccio (March 19, 1900 – May 19, 1989) was an Italian-born American diplomat who served as the first

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 ...

following the establishment of the

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its ea ...

in 1948. His title was "Special Representative of the President" (

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

) in 1948–49 and Ambassador from 1949 through 1952. During his tenure, the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

began. In 1950, before the war broke out, he negotiated the first agreement on American military aid to Korea, worth $10 million at that time. Later that year, in testimony to Congress, Muccio called for increased assistance to Seoul and warned that Communist forces were a growing threat north of the 38th parallel. After the North Korean invasion in June 1950, and the dispatch of U.S. army divisions to defend South Korea, Muccio informed the State Department that U.S. commanders had decided to fire on refugees approaching U.S. lines, for fear of enemy infiltrators. His letter, dated July 26, 1950, warned of “repercussions in the United States from the effectuation of these decisions.” On that same day U.S. troops began a three-day slaughter of South Korean refugees in what is known as the No Gun Ri massacre. An estimated 250-300 were killed, mostly women and children. Through the first two years of the war, before he returned to State Department duty in Washington, Muccio was a crucial liaison in exerting U.S. influence over the impulsive and unpredictable South Korean president, Syngman Rhee, helping set the stage for armistice negotiations. Under President

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War I ...

, Muccio served as

United States Ambassador to Iceland Until 1874, Iceland was a dependency of Denmark rather than an independent nation. In 1874, Denmark granted Iceland home rule, which again was expanded in 1904. In 1918, The Act of Union, an agreement between Denmark, recognized Iceland as a fu ...

, where he previously served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. Finally, Muccio served as

United States Ambassador to Guatemala The following is a list of ambassadors of the United States, or other chiefs of mission, to Guatemala. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.'' See ...

before he retired from the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carry ...

in 1961.

References

New York Times Obituary
1989 deaths 1900 births Ambassadors of the United States to South Korea Ambassadors of the United States to Iceland Italian emigrants to the United States United States Foreign Service personnel {{US-diplomat-stub