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| ▲ Philip Goldberg (C), the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea, visits the Japanese Embassy's information and culture center in Seoul on July 12, 2022, to pay tribute to former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Yonhap) |
US ambassador-credentials
New U.S. ambassador presents copy of credentials to foreign ministry
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, July 12 (Yonhap) -- Philip Goldberg, the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea, submitted a copy of his credentials to Seoul's foreign ministry Tuesday, effectively beginning his official activity in the position.
Goldberg, who arrived here Sunday, visited the ministry's headquarters in the capital city to hand in the copy to its chief of protocol in advance of presenting it to President Yoon Suk-yeol. The date for a related ceremony to be held at the presidential office in the central district of Yongsan has yet to be announced.
In 2018, his predecessor, Harry Harris, presented then President Moon Jae-in with his credentials 18 days after his arrival to assume the post. Usually, South Korea's presidential office groups together new foreign ambassadors in the nation for such a event.
The envoy then headed to the Japanese Embassy's information and culture center in Seoul to pay tribute to former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated during a political campaign speech in Nara, Japan, last week.
Later in the day, Goldberg is scheduled to pay an introductory courtesy call on Foreign Minister Park Jin, according to his ministry.
The minister plans to request that the ambassador make lots of contributions to the strengthening of the Seoul-Washington relations to a "global comprehensive strategic alliance," its spokesperson Choi Young-sam said at a press briefing
He is Washington's first ambassador to Seoul under the Joe Biden administration, as he filled the post that had been vacant for 1 1/2 years since the departure of Harris.
Goldberg, a veteran diplomat, previously served as ambassador to Colombia after working as a coordinator for implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea from 2009-10.
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