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| Philip Goldberg / Courtesy of U.S. Embassy in Colombia |
By Nam Hyun-woo
United States Ambassador to Colombia Philip S. Goldberg is expected to be the new top U.S. envoy to South Korea, a post which has been vacant for more than a year, according to sources, Wednesday.
Multiple sources said the White House designated Goldberg as the new head of its mission to Seoul sometime around late last year and recently informed the South Korean government, requesting an agrement, which refers to a state approval of accepting a member of a diplomatic mission from a foreign country.
A senior Cheong Wa Dae official confirmed that the U.S. had designated its new ambassador to South Korea and informed the South, but refused to identify the designee.
"It is not an issue that the [South] Korean government can announce," the official said. "However, I can say that we have been informed about the new nominee."
The U.S. Embassy in Seoul neither confirmed nor denied this, with its spokesperson J.B. Leedy saying it does not have "any announcements to make at this time."
Goldberg is a career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and ambassador to Bolivia.
From 2009 to 2010, Goldberg coordinated the implementation of United Nations sanctions on North Korea. During this period, he played a crucial role in implementing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874, which bans all weapons exports from the regime and most imports.
When he visited Seoul in August 2009, Goldberg met South Korea's top nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac and other officials to discuss sanctions on Pyongyang. At that time, North Korea was taking a conciliatory approach to inter-Korean relations, such as resuming tours to Mount Kumkang in the North. But Goldberg noted that such measures have nothing to do with U.N. sanctions, demonstrating his hardline approach to North Korea.
Against this backdrop, the purported nomination of Goldberg as the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea shows that the Joe Biden administration is seeking to tighten the reins on North Korea's recent weapons development efforts.
Pyongyang conducted five missile tests so far this year, which include what the regime claims to be hypersonic missiles.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North launched two cruise missiles, Tuesday. But experts said the launch was far from a weapons test and appeared to be a show of protest against the recent U.S. sanctions on Pyongyang's missile tests.
