Admiral Harris Criticizes Biden Administration For Not Nominating a U.S. Ambassador to South Korea
If it was going to take this long to get someone approved to fill South Korea’s ambassador position the Biden administration should have just kept Admiral Harris in place. He is a retired military officer that has served in a bipartisan fashion under Democrat and Republican administrations:
The former U.S. ambassador to South Korea on Wednesday said he was “disappointed” that his position remains unfilled since he stepped down in January.
Speaking at a panel hosted by The Korea Society in New York, Harry Harris, a retired admiral who once led U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and Pacific Fleet, said he received “calls or emails from our friends in Seoul regularly” about the lack of a U.S. ambassador to South Korea.
“We still don’t have an ambassador nominated to replace me yet,” Harris said during the panel discussion that also included retired Army Gen. Robert Abrams, the former commander of U.S. Forces Korea; retired Adm. Scott Swift, the former commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet; and retired Army Gen. Walter Sharp, a former USFK commander.
Harris served as the ambassador from July 2018 to January 2021. President Donald Trump nominated him to fill a 16-month vacancy, and the Senate confirmed him by voice vote.
President Joe Biden has not named a new ambassador to South Korea since his inauguration Jan. 20. Christopher Del Corso, a career diplomat and a former U.S. Marine, serves as chargé d’affaires ad interim.
Harris – the first Asian American to achieve four-star rank in the Navy – said he offered to remain as ambassador for six months until his replacement was nominated.
“It’s been over a year since our election,” he told the panel. “I tell my friends this is emblematic of the divided political landscape in America in the 2020s.” Harris described the absence of a nomination as “legislative malpractice” but added that the blame ought not to be directed at the Senate “since the White House hasn’t even nominated someone.”
Stars & Stripes
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I didn’t even notice that there was no US ambassador to South Korea.
Noone was missed. The US should just save tax payer’s money in salary, and not even bother. Just sign the f*cking end of the war peace treaty and stop getting in the way of the peace process in Korea. That’s all I ask.
Well, foreign ambassadors here aren’t exactly newsworthy persons and don’t garner much interest from the general public, unless of course they decide the follow the path of the former Belgian ambassador’s wife.
So, the Korean people can be excused for not noticing that the position has been vacant.
Curious though why the Biden administration hasn’t moved quickly with the matter of unfilled ambassador posts since it Korea isn’t the only country without an US ambassador.