Michelle Park Steel, U.S. House of Representatives [LOS ANGELES TIMES/AP Yonhap News]

U.S. President Donald Trump on the 13th (local time) nominated Michelle Park Steel (70, Korean name Park Eun-ju), a former U.S. Representative and Korean-American politician, as the first ambassador to South Korea for his second administration.

The White House announced the nomination for the U.S. Ambassador to Korea on its website that day and requested confirmation from the U.S. Senate.

Upon formal appointment after Senate confirmation hearings and a voting process, the current over one-year vacancy for the U.S. Ambassador to Korea, which has persisted since the departure of former Ambassador Philip Goldberg, appointed during the previous Joe Biden administration, in January of last year, is expected to be resolved.

While concerns have been raised that Korea may have been pushed back in the "priority" of the Trump administration's foreign policy due to the prolonged absence of a U.S. Ambassador to Korea who could communicate directly with Washington, there are expectations that this nomination will further strengthen the constant diplomatic communication channel between Korea and the U.S.

During the period of the U.S. Ambassador to Korea vacancy, Joseph Yun, former Special Representative for North Korea Policy at the State Department, and Kevin Kim, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, served as acting ambassadors.

Ms. Steel, the nominee, was mentioned as a strong candidate for the U.S. Ambassador to Korea from the beginning of the second Trump administration and has now been finally selected.

It is also known that the Republican Party's former and current leadership in the House of Representatives, including Speaker Mike Johnson and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, recommended Ms. Steel, who is considered a prominent "pro-Korea" figure within the Republican Party, as the U.S. Ambassador to Korea.

If Ms. Steel passes Senate confirmation, she will set a record as the second Korean-American U.S. Ambassador to Korea, following Ambassador Sung Kim (2011-2014).

Born in Seoul in 1955, Ms. Steel moved to the United States with her family in 1975 after spending her adolescence in Japan.

Ms. Steel, who was an ordinary housewife, became interested in politics after feeling the need for Korean-Americans to enter politics in the wake of the Los Angeles riots.

With the help of her husband, lawyer Shawn Steel, who served as chairman of the California Republican Party, Ms. Steel entered politics and served as an elected member of the California State Board of Equalization and as a supervisor for Orange County.

She then served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives for four years starting in 2021 but narrowly lost the election in November 2024 by a margin of about 600 votes.

President Trump officially endorsed Ms. Steel on his social media (SNS) in October 2024, just before the election.

There are expectations that Ms. Steel, who has communication channels with President Trump's camp as a former politician and is known to speak Korean fluently, could have an advantage over career diplomats in serving as ambassador, acting as a "pipeline" to convey the "inner thoughts" of the U.S. highest leadership to the Korean side and the Korean government's positions to the U.S. highest leadership.

Furthermore, if Ms. Steel is appointed as the ambassador to Korea, she and the current Ambassador to the U.S., Kang Kyung-wha, would be the first instance where women hold ambassadorial positions in each other's countries between Korea and the U.S.