The Order of Diplomatic Service Merit (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 수교훈장) is one of

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 ...

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

of merit. It is awarded by the

President of South Korea The president of the Republic of Korea (), also known as the president of South Korea (often abbreviated to POTROK or POSK; ), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Korea. The president leads the State Council, and is ...

for "outstanding meritorious services in the interest of enhancing national prestige and promoting amity with allies." It is a relatively rare honor, being usually awarded to a handful of people every year, and is one of the highest civilian awards of South Korea.

Grades

The Order of Diplomatic Service Merit is divided into 5 grades. The first grade has two classes; the higher class is reserved for the most high-ranking diplomats.

Recipients

David Manker Abshire David Manker Abshire (April 11, 1926 – October 31, 2014) served as a Special Counselor to President Ronald Reagan and was the United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 1983 to 1987. Abshire presided over the Center for the Study of th ...

, former Ambassador to NATO, United States *

Georges Arsenijevic Georges may refer to: Places *Georges River, New South Wales, Australia *Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses *Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 1977 ...

, technical advisor, Korean Cultural Center, France *

Irina Bokova Irina Georgieva Bokova ( bg, Ирина Георгиева Бокова; born 12 July 1952) is a Bulgarian politician and the former Director-General of UNESCO (2009–2017). During her political and diplomatic career in Bulgaria, she served, a ...

, Director-General of UNESCO, Bulgaria * Pengiran Muda Mohamed Bolkiah, Prince of Brunei * Pengiran Muda Jefri Bolkiah, Member of the Bruneian Royal Family *

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, diplomat, and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Fr ...

, former US Senator from Kansas, current Governor of the State of Kansas, United States *

Fredrick Chien Fredrick F. Chien, or Fred Chien, Chien Foo (; born 21 March 1935), is a retired Taiwanese diplomat and politician who served as the President of the Republic of China Control Yuan from 1999 to 2005. After graduating from Yale University, he ass ...

, Director-General of the Government Information Office, R.O.C., Taiwan *

Barry Devolin Barry Devolin, (born March 10, 1963) is a former Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada and an academic. Early life and education Devolin was born in Peterborough and grew up in Haliburton. Devolin studied political science a ...

, MP, Canada *

Gyanendra Gyanendra Shah ( ne, ज्ञानेन्द्र शाह, born 7 July 1947) is a former monarch who was the last King of Nepal, reigning from 2001 to 2008. As a child, he was briefly king from 1950 to 1951, when his grandfather, Tribhuva ...

, King of Nepal (then Prince of Nepal) *

Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark Prince Henrik of Denmark (; born Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat; 11 June 1934 – 13 February 2018) was the husband of Margrethe II of Denmark. He served as her royal consort from Margrethe's accession on 14 January 1972 unt ...

Queen Silvia of Sweden Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

Queen Sonja of Norway Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen on 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway since 17 January 1991 as the wife of King Harald V. Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relations ...

Queen Letizia of Spain Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano (; born 15 September 1972) is the Queen of Spain as the wife of King Felipe VI. She came from a middle-class family and worked as a journalist for ''ABC'' and EFE before becoming a news anchor at CNN+ and Televisión E ...

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain ( pa, ; ur, ; (born 27 January 1940) is a senior Pakistani politician from a Punjabi Jat family of Gujrat who previously served as 16th prime minister of Pakistan. Hussain is the party president of the Pakistan ...

, Prime Minister, Pakistan *

Henry Hyde Henry John Hyde (April 18, 1924 – November 29, 2007) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2007, representing the 6th District of Illinois, an area of Chicago's ...

, Congressman, United States *

Lee Khoon Choy Lee Khoon Choy ( zh, c=李炯才, p=Lǐ Jǐongcái 24 January 1924 – 27 February 2016) was a Singaporean politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party, he was the Member of Parliament for Braddell Heights SMC between 1977 a ...

, MP and Ambassador, Singapore *

Darell Leiking Datuk Darell Leiking, also known as Ignatius Dorell Leiking (born 23 August 1971) is a Malaysian politician who served as the Minister of International Trade and Industry in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former Prime Minister M ...

, MP and former Minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia *

Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party (Uni ...

, Senator, United States *

Pin Malakul Mom Luang Pin Malakul''Mom luang'' is a Thai honorific hereditary title denoting a royal bloodline; the subject's personal name was ''Pin Malakul''. ( th, หม่อมหลวงปิ่น มาลากุล; 24 October 1903 – 5 ...

, Minister of Education and Culture, Thailand *

Kamisese Mara Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, (6 May 1920 – 18 April 2004) was a Fijian politician, who served as Chief Minister from 1967 to 1970, when Fiji gained its independence from the United Kingdom, and, apart from one brief interruption in 1987, the fi ...

, Prime Minister, Fiji * Zoila Martínez, Ambassador to South Korea, Dominican Republic *

Alois Mock Alois Mock (10 June 1934 – 1 June 2017) was an Austrian politician and member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). He was Vice Chancellor of Austria from 1987 to 1989. As foreign minister, he helped take Austria into the European Union. Life ...

, Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister, Austria *

Khaldoon Al Mubarak Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak ( ar, خلدون المبارك; born 1975) is an Emirati Government official and business leader. Al Mubarak holds senior positions within the Government of Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, including as: a member of ...

, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority, United Arab Emirates * Nguyễn Bá Lương, Speaker of South Vietnam's House of Representatives *

Anand Panyarachun Anand Panyarachun ( th, อานันท์ ปันยารชุน, , ; born 9 August 1932) was Thailand's Prime Minister twice: once in 1991–1992 and again during the latter half of 1992. He was effective in initiating economic and p ...

, Thailand * Bernhard Paus, humanitarian, Norway *

Abu Saleh Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman Abu Saleh Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman (24 November 1934 – 30 November 1996) was a lieutenant colonel of the Bangladesh Army, a Jatiya Sangsad member of parliament representing the Khulna-2 and Bagerhat-2 constituencies, and a government minist ...

, MP and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh *

Lars Løkke Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen (; born 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022. He previously served as the 25th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. He was the lead ...

, Prime Minister, Denmark * Ryoichi Sasakawa, MP and industrialist, Japan *

Edward Seaga Edward Philip George Seaga ( or ; 28 May 1930 – 28 May 2019) was a Jamaican politician. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989, and the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005.Vajiralongkorn Vajiralongkorn ( th, วชิราลงกรณ; , ; born 28 July 1952) is the King of Thailand. He is the only son of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit. In 1972, at the age of 20, he was made crown prince by his father. After his ...

, King of Thailand (then Crown Prince of Thailand) *

Sirindhorn Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, The Princess Royal and Princess Debaratana Rajasuda ( th, มหาจักรีสิรินธร, ; ; born April 2, 1955), formerly Princess Sirindhorn Debaratanasuda Kitivadhanadulsobhak ( th, สมเ ...

, Princess of Thailand *

Pramarn Adireksarn Pramarn Adireksarn ( th, ประมาณ อดิเรกสาร, , 31 December 1913 – 20 August 2010) was a Thai military officer and politician. He was a co-founder and chairman of the Thai Nation Party, deputy prime minister and minist ...

, former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand *

Prem Tinsulanonda Prem Tinsulanonda ( th, เปรม ติณสูลานนท์, , ; 26 August 1920 – 26 May 2019) was a Thai military officer, politician, and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Thailand from 3 March 1980 to 4 August 1988, ...

, former Prime Minister of Thailand * Venu Srinivasan, industrialist, India *

Sergei Stepashin Sergei Vadimovich Stepashin (russian: Сергей Вадимович Степашин; born 2 March 1952) is a Russian politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of Russia in 1999. Prior to this he had been appointed as federal security m ...

, Prime Minister, Russia *

James Van Fleet General James Alward Van Fleet (March 19, 1892 – September 23, 1992) was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey, who was raised in Florida and gradu ...

, Army General, United States * Tengku Intan Zaharah, Queen consort of Malaysia *

Ginandjar Kartasasmita Ginandjar Kartasasmita (born 9 April 1941 in Bandung, West Java) is an Indonesian politician. He served a five-year term (2004–2009) as Speaker of Indonesia Regional Representative Council (DPD-RI). Background Ginandjar attended Kanisius Colle ...

, Speaker of the Regional Representative Council of Indonesia *

Thomas Lembong Thomas Trikasih Lembong (born 4 March 1971), better known as Tom Lembong, is an Indonesian politician. Since 27 July 2016, he has been Head of Indonesia'Investment Coordinating Board(''Badan Koordinasi Penanaman Modal'').. He formerly served as ...

, Minister of Trade of Indonesia *

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Tun Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi ( Jawi: عبد الله بن احمد بدوي; born 26 November 1939) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia from October 2003 to April 2009. He was also the sixth president of ...

, Prime Minister of Malaysia *

, Minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia *

Hatta Rajasa Muhammad Hatta Rajasa (born 18 December 1953) is an Indonesian politician who served as the Coordinating Minister for the Economy of Indonesia from 22 October 2009 to 13 May 2014. A member of the National Mandate Party (PAN), he previously served ...

, Coordinating Ministers for the Economy of Indonesia *

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...

, Prime Minister of Malaysia *

Sudharmono Sudharmono ( EVO: Soedharmono; 12 March 1927 – 25 January 2006), also known by his nickname, Pak Dar, was an Indonesian politician and army officer, who served as the 5th Vice President of Indonesia, under the New Order regime of president S ...

, Vice President of Indonesia *Amb. Anne Höglund, former ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden. *

Park Hang-seo Park Hang-seo (Hangul: 박항서; born 1 October 1957) is a South Korean football manager and former player who currently serves as the head coach of the Vietnam national team. He is credited for the rise of Vietnam national team's performa ...

, head coach of the Vietnam national team. * L. B. Moerdani, Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces * Pham Binh Minh, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam *Dato Lim Jock, ASEAN General Secretary *Trần Văn Túy, Chairman of the Vietnam - Korea Parliamentary Friendship Group

References

External links

Images of the
of Service Merit (in Korean with some English) {{Honors and decorations of South Korea Orders, decorations, and medals of South Korea 1963 establishments in South Korea Awards established in 1963 Diplomatic awards and decorations

Grades

Recipients

See also

References

External links