South Korean Envoy Urges New U.S. Ambassador Steel to Advance Alliance's 'New Leap'
Key Takeaways
- •South Korean Ambassador Kang Kyung-wha and incoming U.S. Ambassador Michelle Steel held a meeting on July 21 before Steel's departure for Seoul.
- •The U.S.–South Korea alliance, established under the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty, has expanded from traditional security cooperation to include economic, technological, shipbuilding, and nuclear energy collaboration.
- •Steel arrived in Seoul on Thursday and committed to keeping the alliance as a "linchpin" of regional peace and security.
- •Both countries are currently focused on implementing last year's bilateral agreements covering security, trade, and investment.
- •Recent high-level dialogues have explored leveraging South Korea's shipbuilding industry for U.S. maritime interests and cooperating on civil nuclear energy exports.
South Korea's Ambassador to the United States, Kang Kyung-wha, called on newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to Seoul, Michelle Steel, to play an important role in advancing the bilateral alliance's "new leap" during a meeting last week, her office said Thursday.
Kang and Steel met on July 21, before Steel's departure for Seoul to assume her ambassadorial post. Steel arrived in Seoul on Thursday, Korea time, as the two countries confront a series of joint tasks, including the implementation of last year's bilateral agreements on security, trade, and investment.
The U.S.–South Korea alliance, originally established under the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty, has long served as a cornerstone of security cooperation on the Korean Peninsula. In recent years, the partnership has broadened beyond traditional security ties to encompass economic and technological collaboration, including cooperation on semiconductors, critical minerals, and energy supply chains that both governments have identified as strategic priorities.
"Ambassador Kang asked Ambassador Steel to play an important role for the alliance's new leap forward, as the two countries' relationship is developing into a jointly prosperous, future-oriented partnership by expanding cooperation beyond security to include the economy, cutting-edge technologies, shipbuilding and nuclear energy," the Korean Embassy wrote on Facebook.
The reference to shipbuilding and nuclear energy reflects recent bilateral discussions on leveraging South Korea's shipbuilding capacity for U.S. maritime interests and cooperating on civil nuclear energy exports, areas that have featured in high-level diplomatic and trade dialogues between the two governments.
Steel said that she would play her part in further advancing the alliance, according to the embassy.
Upon arrival in Korea, Steel vowed to ensure that the alliance remains the "linchpin" of regional peace and security, calling it one of the world's strongest alliances.
Kang, a former foreign minister of South Korea, has served as ambassador to the United States since her appointment to the post. Steel, a former U.S. Representative from California, was nominated by the U.S. administration to serve as ambassador to South Korea.