Ambassador Kurt Tong
Partner, The Asia Group
Former Deputy Chief of Mission,
U.S. Embassy of Japan
Former U.S. Consul General in
Hong Kong and Macau
Ambassador Kurt Tong is a Partner and member of the Executive
Committee at The Asia Group, where he leads the firm’s work in Japan and Hong Kong, and on East Asia
regional policy matters including technology trade and finance. He also leads the firm’s innovative
thought leadership programs. A leading expert in diplomacy and economic affairs in East Asia,
Ambassador Tong brings thirty years of experience from the U.S. Department of State where he served
as a career member of the Senior Foreign Service.
Prior to joining The Asia Group in 2019, Ambassador Tong was Consul General and Chief of Mission in
Hong Kong and Macau, leading U.S. political and economic engagement with that important trade andfinance hub. Prior to that role, he served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic andBusiness Affairs at the State Department from 2014 to 2016, guiding the Department’s institutional
strengthening efforts as its most senior career diplomat handling economic affairs.
Ambassador Tong served as the Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy inTokyo from 2011 to 2014, where he played a key role in setting the stage for Japan’s entry into theTrans-Pacific Partnership and supporting Japan’s recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake. In2013, he received the Cordell Hull Award for Economic Achievement by Senior Officers for his
outstanding success in advancing U.S. economic interests. He also received Presidential Meritorious
Service Awards for 2011 and 2018.
Prior to these positions, Ambassador Tong served as Ambassador for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) in 2011, leading the U.S. chairmanship of the organization during one of the most productive
periods for APEC. As Director of Korean Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asia and PacificAffairs, he played a leadership role in negotiations with North Korea as part of the Six-Party Talks and insecuring the release of captive Americans held there. He was one of the original architects of the TransPacific Partnership and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement during the Bush and Obamaadministrations, including while serving as Director for Asian Economic Affairs at the White House
National Security Council from 2006 to 2008.
Earlier in his career, Ambassador Tong served as Economic Minister-Counselor in Seoul, Counselor forEnvironment, Science and Health at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, Deputy Treasury Attaché in Tokyo, andas an economic officer in Manila. He published research on Japanese macroeconomic trends and U.S.Japan economic diplomacy as a Visiting Scholar with Tokyo University’s Faculty of Economics, and before
joining the Foreign Service, was an Associate with the Boston Consulting Group in Tokyo.
Ambassador Tong holds a B.A. from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and studiedeconomics at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute. He has also studied at the Beijing Institute of Education,

Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies in Taipei, Inter-University Center for Japanese
Language Studies in Tokyo, and the International Christian University in Tokyo.
Ambassador Tong is a Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and an Advisor
at the Hinrich Foundation. He serves on the board of directors of several non-profit organizations
including the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, International Student Conferences Inc., theNational Association of Japan-America Societies, the Japan-America Society of Washington D.C., and theJapan International Christian University Foundation. Ambassador Tong is also an Adjunct Professor atGeorgetown University, a member of the U.S. Committee for the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council
and a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy.
Ambassador Tong speaks and reads both Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. He was born in Ohio andraised in New England. The son of a collegiate athletic coach, Ambassador Tong enjoys tennis, golf andother sports. He is married to Dr. Mika Marumoto. They have three grown children.