Michelle Steel, the first Korean-American ambassador to South Korea under the Trump administration, has arrived in the country, drawing attention to her background and foreign policy stance.
On July 30, Steel arrived at Incheon International Airport's Terminal 2 and issued a statement. She described the Korea-U.S. alliance as one of the strongest in the world and expressed her commitment to realizing a vision of a stronger and more prosperous partnership between the two countries.
Steel's appointment ends a 1.5-year vacancy in the ambassador position following the departure of former Ambassador Philip Goldberg in January 2025. She is the first Korean-American ambassador to South Korea since Sung Kim and the first woman of Korean descent to hold the position.
Born in Seoul in 1955, Steel, whose Korean name is Park Eun-joo, is the daughter of refugees who fled North Korea during the Korean War. She grew up in Japan before moving to the United States in 1975. During her Senate confirmation hearing in May, she noted that English is her third language.
Steel graduated from Pepperdine University and earned an MBA from the University of Southern California. Her entry into politics was influenced by the 1992 Los Angeles riots, where she felt the Korean community's voice was not adequately represented in mainstream American politics.
She began her political career in 2006 when she was elected to the California Board of Equalization. She later served as a supervisor in Orange County and won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020.
Steel was re-elected in 2022, serving two terms in the House from 2021 to 2025. In the 2024 election, she lost her bid for a third term by about 600 votes to Democratic candidate Derrick Tran.
Within the Republican Party, she is known as a conservative Korean-American politician. She has had a longstanding relationship with former President Trump, serving as co-chair of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during his first term. Trump has publicly supported Steel ahead of the 2024 election.
In terms of foreign policy, Steel has taken a relatively hardline stance on North Korea and China. During her time in the House, she criticized human rights abuses and intellectual property violations by the Chinese Communist Party and was active on the House China Task Force in 2023. The following year, she introduced a congressional resolution urging the U.S. government to actively address issues related to North Korean defectors, including forced labor, detention, human trafficking, and repatriation.
In 2021, she joined Republican lawmakers opposing the Moon Jae-in administration's push for a declaration to end the Korean War. During her confirmation hearing in May, she referenced her family's escape from North Korea and emphasized the need for strong cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan regarding human rights issues in North Korea.
Steel has also been vocal on issues related to South Korea. While serving in the House, she criticized Harvard professor Mark Ramseyer for his controversial claims about Korean comfort women, labeling them as 'voluntary prostitutes.' She has participated in legislation concerning Korean-American families separated by the Korean War and advocated for increased U.S. vaccine support for South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Looking ahead, Steel's priorities were evident during her Senate confirmation hearing in May. She stressed the importance of ensuring that American companies operating in South Korea receive the same level of market access as Korean companies do in the U.S. In response to concerns about potential discrimination against U.S. companies like Coupang, she pledged to investigate the issue.
Steel also expressed her intention to clarify the specifics of South Korea's $350 billion investment plan in the U.S. and to discuss non-tariff barriers related to American agricultural products with the South Korean government. Security, investment, trade, and access for U.S. companies to the South Korean market are likely to be key issues during her tenure.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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