The confirmation resolution for Michelle Steel, a Korean American politician and nominee for U.S. ambassador to Korea, passed the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, leaving only a floor vote. If the confirmation is finalized, she will become the second Korean American U.S. ambassador to Korea, following Sung Kim.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a meeting on the 4th (local time) and put Steel's confirmation resolution to a vote, passing it 14–8. The resolution now goes to the full Senate, and if it clears the floor vote, she will assume the post in Korea after President Donald Trump's appointment process.
In Washington's diplomatic circles, there is an assessment that Steel's confirmation process is moving relatively quickly. After President Trump nominated Steel on Apr. 13, the confirmation hearing was held on the 20th of last month, about a month later, and the committee vote followed swiftly. In Washington, it is not uncommon for months to pass after an ambassadorship nomination without even setting a hearing date.
At last month's confirmation hearing, Steel emphasized the importance of the U.S.-Korea alliance and repeatedly noted the need for U.S.-Korea-Japan cooperation. In particular, she said, "A very strong U.S.-Korea-Japan alliance (strong trilateral alliance) is necessary." There was an assessment that it is unusual to apply the term "alliance," typically used for U.S.-Korea and U.S.-Japan relations, to a three-country cooperation framework.
Born in Seoul in 1955, Steel immigrated to the United States with her family in 1975. After living as an ordinary homemaker, she entered politics after the 1992 Los Angeles (LA) riots, realizing the need for Korean American political participation. With support from her husband, attorney Shawn Steel (chair of the California Republican Party), she built her political base and established herself as a local politician, serving as a California State Board of Equalization Commissioner and Orange County supervisor. Steel served as an Orange County supervisor and a California State Board of Equalization Commissioner, then as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives starting in 2021, before leaving Congress after a narrow loss to a Democratic candidate in the general election last November.
If Steel receives final confirmation, she will become the second Korean American U.S. ambassador to Korea after Sung Kim, who served from 2011 to 2014. The post has been vacant for over a year since the departure of Ambassador Philip Goldberg in January last year, and it would be filled.