Korean American Steel pledges to strengthen US-South Korea alliance at hearing

Michelle Steel, a Korean American former congresswoman nominated as U.S. ambassador to South Korea, pledged at her Senate confirmation hearing to strengthen the bilateral alliance, pointing to the presence of 28,500 American troops on the peninsula and a landmark trade deal in which Seoul commits $350 billion to U.S. industries.

Steel, whose parents fled North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, would become only the second Korean American to serve as U.S. ambassador to South Korea if confirmed. The posting has been vacant since January 2025, and a sweeping bilateral security and trade agreement reached in November now awaits a confirmed envoy to advance its implementation.

Steel appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to make her case for the ambassadorship, drawing on her personal story to underscore the weight of the role. "Only in a country like ours could someone like me serve their community in Congress," she said, according to The Korea Times.

Her testimony placed the defense relationship at the center of the alliance. "Our combined defense posture anchored by the 28,500 members of U.S. Forces Korea and reinforced by America's extended nuclear deterrent remains ironclad. It is the bedrock of our alliance," Steel said during the hearing.

On economic ties, Steel expressed strong support for an agreement reached with Seoul last November. "We welcome the U.S.-ROK strategic trade investment deal, in which South Korea commits to invest US$350 billion in U.S. strategic industries and reduce barriers to U.S. exports," she said. The Korea Times characterized the November bilateral security and trade agreements as a "once-in-a-generation" upgrade to the partnership.

Steel also named security threats to the region, citing North Korea's weapons programs, cyber operations and military cooperation with Russia as concerns the alliance must continue to address.

Steel served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, including on the Ways and Means Committee, before President Trump nominated her in April 2026. Her parents left North Korea during the Korean War, eventually settling in Japan before her father urged her to pursue education in the United States, which she described as "a beacon of hope, freedom and prosperity."

If confirmed by the Senate, Steel would be the first U.S. ambassador to Seoul since former Ambassador Philip Goldberg departed in January 2025, filling a vacancy that has stretched more than a year as the alliance pursues the terms of last November's agreements.