Canberra-bound admiral diverted to be Korean envoy
ADMIRAL Harry Harris, the head of the US Pacific Command, is to be nominated for the key, and long-vacant, post of ambassador to South Korea, US officials said.
Admiral Harris had already been nominated to be America’s next envoy to Australia until Mike Pompeo, the incoming secretary of state, instigated the switch, The Washington Post reported.
Mr Pompeo told his Senate confirmation hearing earlier this month that filling the role required “immediate attention”. Australia also confirmed the news yesterday.
Julie Bishop, Australia’s foreign minister, said she had been informed of the decision by John Sullivan, the acting US secretary of state. “We understand this sort of thing happens and we also understand the challenges the United States has on the Korean peninsula,” Ms Bishop told reporters in Sydney. She said Mr Sullivan made it clear a new appointment would be a priority for the next secretary of state.
Like South Korea, Australia has not had a full US ambassador since Donald Trump won the US election in 2016. “The national security situation on the Korean Peninsula is of the highest priority,” a US official told Reuters when asked to confirm the switch in nominations.
Filling the office in Seoul has become a priority ahead of forthcoming summits between Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s president, and Mr Trump, to resolve tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and weapons programmes.
Admiral Harris is known for his hawkish views on China’s military expansion in the South China Sea, but has less experience of diplomatic involvement with North Korea. He has visited South Korea, where about 28,000 US troops are stationed, multiple times in his various military roles.