New U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel (C) will arrive in Seoul on Thursday, sources said Wednesday. In this photo, she speaks to South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan (L) and Ambassador to the U.S.
Kang Kyung-wha at an event in Washington on July 23. Photo by Yonhap
New U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel is set to arrive in Seoul on Thursday, becoming the first U.S. envoy to assume the post since President Donald Trump returned to office, sources said.
Steel is expected to arrive at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at around 3:20 p.m. from Los Angeles, according to the sources. She was nominated by Trump in April and confirmed by the U.S. Senate last month.
The ambassadorial post has been vacant since Philip Goldberg left South Korea in January last year.
The submission of copies of her credentials is expected to take place as early as next week, as Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and the foreign ministry’s chief of protocol are currently accompanying President Lee Jae Myung on his trip to South America and are scheduled to return early next week, the sources added.
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.
A Korean American Republican politician, Steel was born in Seoul in 1955 and immigrated 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 South Korea, following Sung Kim, who served in Seoul from 2011 to 2014.
Responding to a question from Yonhap News Agency in Washington last week, Steel described strengthening the South 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 South Korean investment in the U.S., 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 conservative figure.
South Korean government officials, however, said she has a firm understanding of the importance of the South Korea-U.S. alliance and is committed to cooperating with the Seoul government.
“South Korea and the U.S. have a wide range of issues to work on together amid the rapidly evolving security and economic landscape,” a foreign ministry official said. “We welcome Ambassador Steel’s arrival and hope it will help advance discussions on those issues.”
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