February 25, 1999

Charles Kartman was confirmed for the position of Special Envoy for the Korean Peace Talks, with a personal rank of ambassador, on July 27, 1998. His most recent assignment was as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from June 1996. Ambassador Kartman had previously served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U. S. Embassy in Seoul, Director for Korean Affairs at the Department of State in Washington and as Political Counselor in Seoul.

Ambassador Kartman is recognized particularly for his expertise on Northeast Asia, having also served in Japan from 1977 to 1982, as a political officer in the embassy and, lastly, as Consul General in Sapporo. He also served twice in the office of Japanese Affairs at the Department of State, most recently as Deputy Director from 1985 to 1987.

Ambassador Kartman has also served in the Department as the senior policy analyst for Asia in the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, during which time his attention was largely focused on China and Taiwan; on loan to the Congress as a legislative assistant, working closely with the East Asia Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and as a special assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, with responsibility for Asia.

Ambassador Kartman joined the Department of State in 1975 after completion of a graduate program at Georgetown University in Washington, D. C. He is a multiple winner of the Department's Superior Honor Award and, in 1990, the James Clement Dunn Award for Outstanding service. In 1998, Ambassador Kartman was a recipient of the ICAS Liberty Award. He is married to Mary Kartman, a fellow graduate of Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. They have two daughters.