The U.S. Senate officially confirmed former House Representative Michelle Park Steel (Korean name: Park Eun-ju) as the next Ambassador to South Korea on Wednesday, the 17th.

This appointment makes Ambassador Steel the second Korean-American to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, following Sung Kim during the Obama administration.

She is receiving particular attention given concerns about the future of the ROK-U.S. alliance, as she comes from a political background rather than a traditional diplomatic career.

The Senate began with a cloture vote on the nomination at 12:40 PM that morning, which passed 54 to 41, and proceeded to the final confirmation vote around 12:15 PM.

The roll call vote resulted in the Senate officially confirming Steel's nomination as Ambassador to South Korea with 55 votes in favor and 39 against.

Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Independent Angus King (I-ME) joined Republican senators in casting affirmative votes.

There were six senators who did not vote: Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA).

Furthermore, fellow Korean-American Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) was confirmed to have cast a dissenting vote.

During the confirmation hearing held on Wednesday, May 20th, concerns regarding the South Korean government were raised rather than Steel's qualifications. Senators showed particular interest in the specifics of how the South Korean government would fulfill its promised $350 billion investment in the U.S. and urged that U.S. investment projects, including those by Korea Zinc, be prioritized for support.

Ambassador Steel, whose parents fled North Korea during the Korean War, was born in Seoul in 1955. She moved to Japan with her diplomat father and then to the United States in 1975. Before serving as a Republican U.S. Representative for four years starting in 2021, where she was a member of the Committee on Ways and Means and the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, she held positions such as an elected member of the California State Board of Equalization and a County Supervisor in Orange County.

Ambassador Steel is scheduled to assume her post in Seoul immediately upon receiving her credentials from President Trump.

By Hong Seong-gu, Chief Correspondent, NNP / Special Correspondent for this paper NNP info@newsandpost.com