Former Congresswoman Michelle Steel Nominated As US Ambassador to South Korea
By Reuters | 13 Apr, 2026

Steel is a two-term conservative Republican representing Orange County who narrowly lost her reelection bid to Democrat Derek Tran.

FILE PHOTO: Michelle Steel appears in an undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on September 28, 2022. Michelle Steel/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated a former California congresswoman, Michelle Steel, to be the U.S. ambassador to Seoul, a post that has been vacant throughout his second term, despite South Korea's status as a key ally.

The White House announced the nomination, which will require congressional approval, on Monday.

A senior State Department official, Kevin Kim, has been serving as acting ambassador since last October, shortly before Trump paid a visit to South Korea. The last Senate-approved ambassador in Seoul was Philip Goldberg, who was picked by former President Joe Biden.

In 2024, Steel, a Korean-American and a conservative Republican, narrowly lost her bid for reelection to her Orange County congressional seat to Democrat Derek Tran, a Vietnamese-American, having served two full terms.

News reports at the time said the tight race between the two Asian-American candidates turned ugly with both accusing each other of red-baiting tactics.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Kyu-seok Shim; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)