The U.S. Senate confirmed former Republican Rep. Michelle Steel as ambassador to South Korea on Wednesday, advancing a Korean American diplomat to a key post at a time of alliance modernization and heightened regional tensions.
The upper chamber approved Steel, 71, in a 55-39 vote, according to the official tally. The position had been vacant since former Ambassador Philip Goldberg left Seoul in January 2025. President Donald Trump nominated Steel for the post in April.
Steel will become the second Korean American to serve as the United States’ top envoy to South Korea, following former Ambassador Sung Kim, who held the post from 2011 to 2014. Born in Seoul in June 1955, Steel grew up and studied in South Korea, Japan and the United States and speaks fluent Korean.
The South Korean government granted agrement, the host country’s formal consent for the appointment of a foreign envoy, on Thursday, according to Seoul’s foreign ministry. A ministry official said the exact timing of Steel’s arrival will depend on remaining U.S. procedures, including the issuance of her credentials by Trump.
“We expect Steel to contribute to strengthening the alliance between the two countries once she formally assumes her post,” the official said.
Observers said Steel is likely to take up her post no later than next month, with administrative procedures on both sides effectively completed.
During her confirmation hearing last month, Steel vowed to ensure that American companies operating in South Korea are not discriminated against. Trade treatment of U.S. firms by Seoul has been a recurring issue in bilateral talks, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying earlier this month that South Korea’s treatment of U.S. companies complicates trade negotiations.
While in Congress, Steel was active in pushing legislation to address the issue of Korean Americans separated from their relatives in North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War.
She was first elected to the House in 2020 representing California’s 45th District, then reelected in 2022. She lost her 2024 reelection bid to Democratic challenger Derek Tran by a small margin. Before Congress, she served on the Orange County Board of Supervisors and the California State Board of Equalization.
Steel earned a bachelor’s degree from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and an MBA from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Her husband, Shawn Steel, is an attorney who served as chairman of the California Republican Party from 2001 to 2003 and has been the Republican national committeeman from California since 2008.