Former U.S. Representative Michelle Steel is reportedly being considered as the first U.S. Ambassador to South Korea under Donald Trump’s second administration. Additionally, former White House Senior Director for Asia Allison Hooker is being mentioned as a candidate for Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the third-highest ranking position in the State Department. Meanwhile, former U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Michael DeSombre, also a candidate for the ambassadorial post in South Korea, is now being considered for the position of Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
On Tuesday, Voice of America (VOA) reported this information, citing multiple sources in the United States. Michelle Steel, a former two-term U.S. Representative, was born in Seoul and grew up in South Korea, Japan, and the United States. She entered politics in response to the 1992 Los Angeles riots. From 2001 to 2004, during the George W. Bush administration, she served as a member of the White House Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. During Trump’s first administration, she was co-chair of the advisory board. She narrowly lost her seat in last year’s congressional elections, held alongside the presidential election.
Former Senior Director Hooker is considered a leading expert on North Korea. She worked at the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research for 14 years, analyzing North Korea, and was involved in U.S.-North Korea summits during Trump’s first term. In a 2022 panel discussion hosted by The Washington Times Foundation, Hooker stated that North Korea views nuclear deterrence as essential to avoiding vulnerability to invasion and that changing the mindset of Kim Jong Un and the leadership is extremely difficult. This suggested the possibility of negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear disarmament or freeze agreements. Hooker is also an Executive Vice President at American Global Strategies (AGS), chaired by former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, a close associate of Donald Trump.
Former Ambassador Michael DeSombre is a lawyer specializing in mergers, acquisitions, and private equity. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Thailand from 2020 to 2021 under Trump’s first term before returning to legal practice.