New US Ambassador Steel to arrive in Korea this week amid pileup of bilateral issues
U.S. Ambassador to Korea Michelle Steel speaks during her confirmation hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, in this photo captured from a livestream from the committee's website. Yonhap
New U.S. Ambassador to Korea Michelle Steel is set to arrive in Seoul this week, sources said Monday, to assume her post which has remained vacant for about a year and a half since the launch of U.S. President Donald Trump's second administration.
Steel is scheduled to arrive in Korea on Thursday, and the submission of her credentials is expected to take place as early as next week after Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and the foreign ministry's chief of protocol return from accompanying President Lee Jae Myung on his trip to South America, according to the sources.
Before formally beginning their duties, newly appointed foreign ambassadors are required to present copies of their credentials to the chief of protocol at the foreign ministry. U.S. ambassadors also traditionally pay a courtesy call on the foreign minister on that occasion.
The ambassadorial post has remained vacant since former U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg left Korea in January last year.
A Korean American Republican politician, Steel was born in Seoul in 1955 and emigrated to the United States in the mid-1970s. She served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives representing California from 2020 to 2024.
Steel is the second Korean American to serve as the top U.S. envoy to Korea, following Sung Kim, who was the U.S. ambassador to Seoul from 2011 to 2014.
Responding to a question from Yonhap News Agency in Washington last week, Steel described strengthening the Korea-U.S. alliance as her "top priority."
Her arrival comes as Seoul and Washington face a series of pending security and economic issues, including Korean investment in the United States, civilian nuclear cooperation, Seoul's push to build nuclear-powered submarines and ongoing efforts to modernize the decades-old alliance.
Steel's nomination had drawn criticism from some progressive civic groups here, which view her as a far-right figure.
Government officials, however, said she has a firm understanding of the importance of the bilateral alliance and is committed to cooperating with the Korean government.
"The two countries have a wide range of issues to work on together amid the rapidly evolving security and economic landscape. We welcome Ambassador Steel's arrival and hope it will help advance discussions on those issues," a foreign ministry official said.