Mr. Minton was previously Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Republic of Korea.  During his assignment in Seoul, he acted for over six months as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. 

Mr. Minton began his Foreign Service career as a Political Officer in Tokyo in 1977.  He served on the Policy Planning Staff in Washington, D.C., followed by an assignment with the Office of Soviet Union Affairs.  In 1984, Mr. Minton became the Consul General in Sapporo, Japan.  He has served in subsequent assignments with the Department of State’s Executive Secretariat, as a Pearson Fellow with the United States Senate, and as Deputy Director, Japanese Affairs, at the Department of State.  In 1992, Mr. Minton became the Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, after which he returned to Washington as the Director of Korean Affairs.  Mr. Minton’s next posting, in 1998, was as Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, followed by a year as Diplomat-in-Residence at the City College of New York. 

Minton graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in Literature and received his Master's degree in History from Yale University.  He speaks Japanese and Korean.  He also is a veteran, having served three years in the United States Army.