By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has less than three months to assemble his staff before taking the oath of presidency. So who will advise the next U.S. commander-in-chief on his administration's Korea policy?
It appears there is already a core group of experts who have been talking with the Obama camp on Korean issues during his presidential campaign. Seoul is likely to see this core group continue to offer advice to Obama for the next four years, according to media reports.
At the center of Obama's advisory team is Jeffrey Bader. He is a senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. Bader is an expert on U.S.-Asia diplomacy, with a particular focus on Sino-U.S. relations. He has worked at the U.S. State Department, the National Security Council, and the U.S. Trade Representative's office during his 27-year career in Washington. He is likely to play a major role in shaping the new administration's foreign policy strategy for East Asia and the Korean region.
Obama may tap Bader to be the next assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, a post currently held by Christopher Hill.
Another candidate for this post is Frank Jannuzi, a senior East Asia specialist for the majority staff in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Jannuzi has been working as a Korea policy advisor for Obama during this year's election campaign.
Jannuzi is also reported to be very close to Vice President-elect Joseph Biden. In the past, the two of them have often worked side-by-side in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee where Biden has long been a senior member.
Jannuzi's name has been mentioned as a possible foreign policy advisor to Vice President-elect Biden and also as a new member of the National Security Council at the White House.
Other experts to keep an eye on include Stephen Bosworth, dean at the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a former U.S. ambassador to Seoul. Bosworth has already been advising the Obama camp on various Korea-related issues. Gordon Flake, executive director at the Mansfield Foundation, and Scott Snyder, a senior associate at the Asia Foundation, have also been working with the Obama camp during the presidential campaign.
Several other Korea experts may join the Obama administration. They include: Jonathan Pollack, director of the Strategic Research Department of the U.S. Naval War College; Donald Gregg, a former U.S. ambassador to Seoul and the current chairman of the New York-based Korea Society; and Joel Witt, a former U.S. State Department official.
michaelha@koreatimes.co.kr
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