Posted By Josh Rogin
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - 7:12 PM
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Jill Kelley, the Tampa socialite connected to ISAF Commander John Allen and former CIA Director David Petraeus, is an "honorary consul" of South Korea, a diplomatic official with direct knowledge of the arrangement told The Cable.
"She is an ‘honorary consul' of the Republic of Korea," the official said. "She assumed this position last August thanks to her good connections and network."
The position of honorary consul is symbolic and has no official responsibilities, the official said.
"She does not work as a real consul. They play a role to improve the relationship between the ROK and the U.S.," the official said. "Jill Kelley helped to get support for [the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement] and she arranged meetings between the ROK Ambassador to Washington and local businessmen when the ROK Ambassador visited the Tampa area."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Kelley
Although she had no official status and was not employed by the U.S. government, she was given an appreciation certificate recognizing her as an "honorary ambassador" in Florida to the coalition of countries at the United States Central Command.[7] Kelley also was made an honorary consul general for the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in August 2011, in thanks for her volunteer work with coalition troops.[8][9][10] As such, she has "honorary consul" license plates on her vehicle which confer no special privileges. [8]