Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s nomination of former Korean American congresswoman Michelle Park Steel as the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, expressing hope that her formal appointment would further strengthen bilateral ties. Trump tapped Steel, a former two-term Republican lawmaker from California, for the post, which has remained vacant since former Ambassador Philip Goldberg departed Seoul in January last year. “We expect the formal appointment of nominee Steel would bolster Korea-U.S. relations and promote friendship between people of the two nations,” a presidential official said. Steel will be formally appointed upon confirmation by the U.S. Senate, a process that typically takes several months. If confirmed, she would become the second Korean American to serve as U.S. ambassador to South Korea, following former Ambassador Sung Kim, who served in Seoul from 2011 to 2014. Her nomination comes as Seoul and Washington face a range of shared tasks, including modernizing the bilateral alliance, addressing trade and investment issues, and cooperating on re
