The United States is said to be replacing acting U.S. ambassador to Korea Joseph Yun with Kevin Kim, deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. It is seen as an unusual case that another acting ambassador will take over the post of acting ambassador, who performs duties temporarily in place of a formal ambassador. Attention is particularly focused on the background of the change as U.S. President Donald Trump is set to visit Korea at the end of this month to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting.
According to political circles on Oct. 18 local time, acting Ambassador Yun, appointed by former President Joe Biden on Jan. 10, is set to step down as of the 26th. His successor is expected to be Kevin Kim, the deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs at the State Department who handles Korean Peninsula issues.
Kim served from 2018 to 2020 during Trump's first term in the State Department's Office of the Special Representative for North Korea Policy. He worked alongside former Special Representative for North Korea Policy Steve Biegun, who served as deputy secretary of state, and was practically involved in U.S. diplomacy toward North Korea.
However, given that an acting ambassador's role is to temporarily take on duties when the ambassadorship is vacant, analysts view the replacement with another acting ambassador as unusual. U.S. ambassadors must undergo Senate confirmation, which can take several months to more than a year, whereas acting ambassadors can assume their posts immediately without that process.
In this situation, if Deputy Assistant Secretary Kevin Kim takes office, some expect the acting ambassador system to continue for a while. During Trump's first term, the administration also left the ambassadorship to Korea vacant and did not send former Ambassador Harry Harris until July 2018, 1 year and 6 months after the inauguration.