Trans-Pacific View | Diplomacy | East Asia

The Political Risks Facing Washington’s New Ambassador to South Korea

Michelle Steel arrives in Seoul at a moment when ethnic affinity and political polarization make diplomacy more complicated than ever. 

Michelle Steel in an official portrait in Jan. 2022.

For nearly 18 months, one of Washington’s most important embassies operated without a Senate-confirmed ambassador. With the confirmation of former Republican congresswoman Michelle Steel, the United States finally has an ambassador to South Korea. 

Her arrival in Seoul carries considerable symbolic significance. As a Korean American, Steel reflects the deep human ties that have long complemented the military and strategic foundations of the South Korea-U.S. alliance. But symbolism can be both an asset and a liability. 

Steel’s appointment comes at a moment when political polarization has become a defining feature of both U.S. and South Korean politics. Unlike many of her predecessors, she comes to her ambassador post not as a career diplomat but as a politician whose public profile was shaped by electoral combat. Of course, many successful ambassadors have come from politics rather than diplomacy. Yet Steel faces political risks that previous U.S. envoys to Seoul encountered only to a limited degree. Ironically, some of those risks arise from the very qualities that make her appointment historically significant.

Steel is not the first Korean American to represent Washington in Seoul. Sung Kim, who served as ambassador from 2011 to 2014, also brought cultural familiarity and personal ties to the position. Yet Kim’s tenure unfolded in a very different political environment. He operated during a period when neither the United States nor South Korea had yet become consumed by the ideological polarization that increasingly shapes both societies today. Kim’s heritage primarily served as a bridge. Steel may find that the same ethnic identity carries different expectations. 

Unlike Sung Kim, a career diplomat with decades of experience whose Korean heritage largely stood apart from his professional identity, Steel arrives in Seoul with both an ethnic affinity and a distinctly partisan political brand. It is the combination of the two – not either one alone – that makes her tenure potentially more complicated.

The first challenge facing the new ambassador is the risk of becoming too politically familiar. Diplomats traditionally benefit from a degree of distance. They represent the interests of their governments, not the passions of their host countries. Their authority depends in part on remaining above domestic political battles. Yet Steel’s Korean heritage may encourage some South Koreans to view her less as Washington’s representative and more as someone who possesses a special affinity with Korea itself.

Such sentiments are understandable, but familiarity can create unrealistic expectations. Political actors often prefer to see foreign figures through the lens of their own domestic struggles. A Korean American ambassador can easily be portrayed as a “hometown figure” whose background implies sympathy for particular political causes. Ethnic affinity, in other words, can create pressures as well as goodwill.

Steel’s political profile also differs from that of previous ambassadors. During her congressional campaigns in California, she frequently emphasized anti-communist themes and........

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