Talk: My American Journey and What It Means to be a Public Servant

Biography

Mr. Sukhee Kang was sworn in as the Regional Administrator for GSA’s Pacific Rim, Northwest and Arctic Region on January 3, 2023. As Regional Administrator, he leads a workforce across California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska, as well as in Japan, South Korea and the U.S. territories of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, the Pacific Rim Region is one of GSA’s largest and diverse federal real estate inventories in terms of scope, complexity, and income production. Its 36.2 million square foot real estate portfolio, which houses over 100,000 federal employees and GSA associates, includes 179 government-owned buildings and leased space in 976 commercial buildings. Additionally, the region supplies goods, services, telecommunications and information technology to all federal agencies within the region at a value of more than $1 billion annually.

Mr. Kang is a businessman, civic leader and former city councilmember and two-term mayor of Irvine, California. Born and raised in South Korea, Mr. Kang and his wife Joanne immigrated to the United States in 1977 following his graduation from the prestigious Korea University with a degree in Food and Resource Economics.

In the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, he became a civic leader in the Korean American community. In 2000, he was appointed to the California Workforce Investment Board. A few years later, he was elected to the Irvine City Council before making history as that city’s mayor in 2008 - the first Korean American mayor of a major American city. Mr. Kang started his career in retail, eventually becoming an entrepreneur-operator of a retail chain in Southern California. He has also served organizations such as the Southern California Association of Government, University of California - Irvine, and Chapman University.

Mr. Kang brings experience in both the public and private sector to his work on behalf of the GSA. He values the opportunity to deliver efficient and effective government services to the American people and believes in forging strong and productive relationships with leaders and stakeholders in the business, education, cultural, and non-profit communities. Mr. Kang is the author of The Power of Possibility — My American Journey and was proud to be honored for his community leadership and citizenship by the Carnegie Corporation of New York with their annual “Immigrants: The Pride of America” designation.