Harold Hongju Koh is an American diplomat, lawyer, legal scholar, politician, and writer who served as the legal adviser of the Department of State in the Obama administration. He was nominated to this position by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2009, and confirmed by the Senate on June 25, 2009. He left the State Department in January 2013, returning to Yale University as a Sterling Professor of international law. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2007.
Koh in 2010
Harold Koh (left), as Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State with the blind Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng (center) and U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke (right) at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, on May 1, 2012; Jake Sullivan is in the background. Koh assisted Chen Guangcheng, who sought refuge at the embassy from persecution by the Chinese authorities, in securing medical treatment and the right to travel out of China to pursue legal studies in the United States.
Legal Adviser of the Department of State
The Legal Adviser of the Department of State is a position within the United States Department of State. The legal adviser provides legal advice on all issues arising in the course of the department's activities.
The legal adviser heads the State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser. As such, the legal adviser has the rank of Assistant Secretary.
Legal Adviser of the Department of State
