Michael DeSombrie, the nominee for U.S. State Department Deputy Minister for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, who will serve as the working-level lead on diplomacy toward the Korean Peninsula in Donald Trump's second administration, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate and will take office.
According to the U.S. Congress website on the 8th, the confirmation of nominee DeSombrie passed the Senate the previous day by a vote of 51 in favor and 47 against. As a result, DeSombrie will take office about seven months after being nominated by President Trump in Mar. as the State Department Deputy Minister for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
The State Department Deputy Minister for East Asian and Pacific Affairs oversees North and South Korea, China, Japan, and ASEAN, and is expected to play a key role if U.S.–North Korea talks are pursued in Trump's second administration.
Earlier, nominee DeSombrie served as ambassador to Thailand from Mar. 2020, at the end of Trump's first administration, until Jan. 20 of the following year, when President Trump's first-term tenure ended. A lawyer specializing in Asian trade who has long been active, he studied economics and East Asian international politics at Stanford University and graduated from Harvard Law School. His spouse is Korean, so he can handle everyday Korean conversation, and he is also known to be fluent in Chinese.
Meanwhile, Thomas DiNanno, a former State Department deputy assistant secretary nominated the same day as Vice Minister for Arms Control and International Security at the State Department, also won Senate confirmation.
The State Department Vice Minister for Arms Control and International Security oversees U.S. global security policy and has served as the State Department lead for the senior-level meetings of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG), the U.S.–ROK foreign affairs and defense forum that discusses the U.S. nuclear umbrella commitment to South Korea.