US Senate Unanimously Confirms Nominee for US Ambassador to South Korea

Philip Goldberg, Nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Korea
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The confirmation bill for Philip Goldberg, the nominee for U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, has passed the U.S. Congress unanimously. The position, vacant for 16 months since former Ambassador Harry Harris resigned in January last year, is expected to be filled soon.

On the 5th (local time), the U.S. Senate held a plenary session and unanimously approved Ambassador Goldberg's confirmation bill. With this, nominee Goldberg has completed all congressional confirmation procedures.

If officially appointed before President Joe Biden's scheduled visit to South Korea from the 20th to the 22nd, he may immediately assume his post and welcome President Biden in Korea.

Nominee Goldberg was nominated by President Biden as the candidate for U.S. Ambassador to South Korea on February 11 and underwent a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the 7th of last month.

A career diplomat, he has served as Ambassador to Colombia since 2019, and previously acted as Ambassador to Chile and Cuba, as well as Ambassador to Bolivia and the Philippines.

Nominee Goldberg is a prominent 'North Korea sanctions expert.' From 2009 to 2010, as the State Department's North Korea sanctions coordinator, he oversaw the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1874 on North Korea and coordinated related international cooperation.

Given North Korea's series of missile provocations this year, his nomination as U.S. Ambassador to South Korea has led to speculation that the Biden administration may be shifting to a tougher stance against North Korea.

At the hearing, nominee Goldberg defined North Korea as a "rogue regime" and emphasized the need to consistently uphold "Complete, Verifiable, and Irreversible Denuclearization" (CVID) of North Korea.

The Biden administration has so far used the term "complete denuclearization" instead of CVID, following the request of the Moon Jae-in administration. His CVID remarks are interpreted as a revival of the policy stance from previous conservative governments.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.