V.K. Wellington Koo

Who was V.K. Wellington Koo?

V.K. Wellington Koo, also known as Koo Vi Kyuin, Ku Wei-chün and Gu Weijun, was a prominent Chinese diplomat from the Republic of China. He was one of China's representatives at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919; served as an Ambassador to France, Great Britain and the United States; was a participant in the founding of the League of Nations and the United Nations; sat as a judge on the International Court of Justice in The Hague from 1957 to 1967. Between October 1926 and June 1927, while serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Koo briefly held the concurrent positions of acting Premier and interim President of the Republic of China. Koo is the first and only Chinese head of state known to use a Western name publicly.