U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated Michelle Park Steel, a former Korean American congresswoman from California, as the US ambassador to South Korea. The post has been vacant for more than a year since former Ambassador Philip Goldberg departed in January last year. If confirmed by the Senate, she would become the second Korean American to hold the position, following Sung Kim from 2011 to 2014.
Washington (Yonhap/The Korea Times) -- U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Michelle Park Steel, a former two-term Republican lawmaker from California, as the US ambassador to South Korea, according to a presidential nomination document released on Monday.
The ambassadorial post has remained vacant since Philip Goldberg left in January last year. Joseph Yun, former special representative for North Korea policy, served as acting ambassador, followed by Kevin Kim, former deputy assistant secretary at the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Born in Seoul in June 1955, Steel grew up in South Korea, Japan, and the US, and speaks fluent Korean. She earned a bachelor's degree from Pepperdine University and an MBA from the University of Southern California. Elected to the House in 2020 and reelected in 2022, she lost to her Democratic rival by a narrow margin in the 2024 election. Ahead of that vote, Trump endorsed her on social media as one of the "strongest congresswomen" in the country and an "America First Patriot whose family bravely fled Communism," offering his "complete and total" support.
During her congressional tenure, Steel advocated for legislation addressing Korean Americans separated from North Korean relatives after the 1950-53 Korean War. She previously served on the Orange County Board of Supervisors and the California State Board of Equalization. Her husband, Shawn Steel, chaired the California Republican Party from 2001 to 2003 and has been California's Republican National Committeeman since 2008. She has strong backing from Republican leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, and served on the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during Trump's first term.
The nomination comes amid joint US-South Korea tasks, including modernizing their alliance, tackling trade and investment issues, and cooperating on North Korean threats and the Middle East conflict. Senate confirmation could enhance bilateral communication after the yearlong vacancy.
