U.S. Ambassador to Korea nominee says American companies must not face discrimination

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[Financial News] Michelle Park Steel, 70, the nominee for the next U.S. ambassador to Korea, said American companies operating in Korea, including Coupang, should not face discrimination.
At a hearing in the United States Senate in Washington, D.C., on the 20th local time, Steel said, "American companies doing business in Korea deserve the same market access that Korean companies enjoy in the United States."
Referring to the joint fact sheet outlining trade and security agreements reached by the leaders of the two countries last year, she said, "It clearly states that American companies should not be discriminated against and will not face unnecessary barriers." She added, "If I am confirmed, I will make sure that point is clearly upheld." She also stressed, "Just as all Korean companies in the United States receive equal treatment, American companies in Korea should receive equal treatment as well."
Sen. Pete Ricketts, a Republican from Nebraska, who attended the hearing, pointed to South Korea's non-tariff barriers on U.S. agricultural products and the reduction in tariff-rate quota volumes for U.S. soybeans, and urged that Seoul's promise to ease non-tariff barriers be kept.
In response, Steel said, "If I am confirmed, I will speak directly with the South Korean government and officials handling the relevant trade issues about trade matters involving soybeans and other agricultural products." She also said the $350 billion South Korean investment plan in the United States agreed by Seoul and Washington was not clear, adding, "I would like to verify exactly where that comes from." She noted that South Korea's trade surplus with the United States exceeds $50 billion and said that, if confirmed, she would also look for ways to increase U.S. exports to Korea.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, also said the specific use of the $350 billion South Korean investment in the United States was unclear and asked that related information be shared transparently with the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Steel replied, "I will do that."
Steel also referred to the political and economic divide between the two Koreas and said her parents were displaced from North Korea. She said, "We all know how many people are suffering in North Korea." She added, "That is why we need a very strong alliance among the United States, Japan and Korea," stressing that "this is not just about protecting Korea, but about protecting the entire Indo-Pacific region." Steel said, "The ROK-US Alliance has served as the key pillar supporting peace, security and prosperity in Northeast Asia," and added, "Our joint defense posture, anchored by 28,500 USFK troops and reinforced by the U.S. extended nuclear deterrence, remains ironclad." She also said, "Korea is one of the United States' most important trade partners and a key investor in rebuilding American industry."
Meanwhile, during her responses that day, Steel said, "With U.S. help, the Korean economy grew to the world's sixth largest." Last year, Korea ranked 13th in the world in nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Regarding South Korea's investment in the United States, Steel referred to "a $350 billion investment and $150 billion in shipbuilding," speaking as if the shipbuilding investment were separate from Korea's investment in the United States.
President Donald Trump nominated Steel as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Korea on the 13th of last month. Born in Seoul in 1955, Steel came to the United States in 1975 as part of an immigrant family. She later served as an elected member of the California Board of Equalization and as a supervisor in Orange County, and then served four years as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2021. The ambassador post in Seoul has remained vacant for more than a year since former Ambassador Philip Seth Goldberg left in January last year after being appointed by the Biden administration.
pjw@fnnews.com Park Jong-won Reporter