New US top envoy arrives in Seoul Thursday, faces Coupang, N. Korea tests

Michelle Steel, the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to South Korea, is set to arrive in the country Thursday, with attention turning to how she will navigate a stack of bilateral issues between Seoul and Washington amid mounting global uncertainties.

Steel will land Thursday, according to sources, and begin preparations to formally assume the post, which has been vacant for a year and a half since her predecessor, Philip Goldberg, departed around the time U.S.

President Donald Trump took office in January last year.

The new top envoy faces a full agenda of pending bilateral issues but is expected to prioritize strengthening the alliance.

A hawkish Korean American Republican, she stressed her commitment to "strengthening our alliance with the Republic of Korea" during her Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on May 20 — remarks that are likely to extend to overseeing South Korea's $350 billion investment pledge in the U.S.

Among the most closely watched issues is the handling of Coupang, the Korea-based e-commerce giant often compared to Amazon.

U.S.

House Republicans ...