Trump nominates Pacific commander Harris as U.S. ambassador to Seoul

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

POLITICS MAY 18, 2018 / 5:13 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

Trump nominates Pacific commander Harris as U.S. ambassador to Seoul

Reuters Staff
3 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday nominated Admiral Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, as U.S. ambassador to South Korea ahead of a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un scheduled next month but since called into question by Pyongyang.

If confirmed by the Senate, Harris would fill a post that has been vacant since Trump took office in January 2017.

Harris was initially nominated by Trump to be U.S. ambassador to Australia but was asked last month by Mike Pompeo, now secretary of state, to take the post in Seoul instead, as diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear weapons intensified.

His formal nomination, announced by the White House, comes days after North Korea raised doubts about whether an unprecedented June 12 summit in Singapore between Kim Jong Un and Trump would go ahead, and Pyongyang called off talks with South Korea, whose president, Moon Jae-in, is due to meet Trump at the White House on Tuesday.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-southkorea-harris/trump-nominates-pacific-commander-harris-as-u-s-ambassador-to-seoul-idUSKCN1IJ2RB

[procon]

1. More military?

Trump has a very large percentage of his administration that come from the military. That makes me nervous as dictators often cater to their military and surround themselves with generals to give themselves an air of legitimacy.

[soryang]

2. Pro Japanese hard liner

Appointing him Ambassador to S. Korea was an inept move, which President Moon, and Foreign Minister Kang are too discrete to point out.