President Donald Trump has scheduled the confirmation hearing for Michelle Park Steel (70, Korean name Park Eun-ju), his nominee for the first U.S. Ambassador to South Korea in his second administration, for May 20.
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced the date for Steel’s confirmation hearing on their website on Thursday.
Following the hearing, Steel must secure approval from committee members through a vote and then pass the confirmation process in the full Senate before assuming her role as ambassador. If she clears these hurdles without complications, she could potentially take office as early as June.
The position of U.S. Ambassador to South Korea has been vacant for over a year since former Ambassador Philip Goldberg, appointed by the Joe Biden administration, departed in January of last year.
Born in Seoul in June 1955, Steel spent her childhood in Japan before immigrating to the United States with her family in the mid-1970s when she was in her twenties. She is married to Shawn Steel, has two daughters, and has been residing in Surfside, California.
Steel made her mark on the national political stage by winning consecutive elections for the U.S. House of Representatives in California in 2020 and 2022.
In her 2024 re-election bid for California’s 45th congressional district, she narrowly lost by approximately 600 votes.
President Trump publicly endorsed Steel’s nomination on social media, praising her family as patriots who escaped communism.
If confirmed by the Senate, Steel will become the second U.S. Ambassador to South Korea of Korean descent, following in the footsteps of former Ambassador Sung Kim.