Michelle Steel, the newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, chose Namdaemun Market as the destination for her first weekend outing since taking her post in Korea.
On the 1st, Ambassador Steel posted on her X account photos of her visit to Namdaemun Market with her husband, attorney Shawn Steel.
She struck a "finger heart" pose in front of the market and took photos with a bright expression while holding a hotteok, a Korean sweet pancake, alongside a merchant.
"Returning to Namdaemun Market after a long time brought back fond old memories," Ambassador Steel wrote. "Many things have changed, but the warm affection, energy, and familiar scenery remained just as I remembered them." She added, "It is truly exciting to get to know Seoul again, a city that feels both familiar and new."
The previous day, Ambassador Steel posted a photo taken in front of the statue of King Sejong at Gwanghwamun Square, near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.
"Passing by the statue of King Sejong, I was reminded once again of Korea's remarkable legacy of innovation and leadership," she wrote. "I look forward to the journey we will build together."
Born in Seoul in 1955, Ambassador Steel is a Korean-American whose parents were displaced during the Korean War. After spending her middle and high school years in Japan, she moved to the United States with her family in 1975 and settled there.
She served as an elected member of the California State Board of Equalization and as a supervisor in Orange County, and served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives for four years starting in 2021.
Ambassador Steel is the first U.S. Ambassador to South Korea appointed under the second Trump administration.
She is the second Korean-American U.S. Ambassador to Korea, following former Ambassador Sung Kim of the Barack Obama administration, and the first Korean-American woman to hold the post.
The position of U.S. Ambassador to South Korea had remained vacant since former Ambassador Philip Goldberg left the post on January 7 last year.
Former U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun, U.S. Ambassador to ASEAN Kevin Kim, and Deputy Chief of Mission James Heller had served as chargés d'affaires.
