#POLITICS APRIL 24, 2018 / 4:09 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

Trump administration plans to nominate Harry Harris as South Korea envoy

David Brunnstrom, John Walcott
5 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration plans to nominate Admiral Harry Harris, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command already nominated to be the next U.S. ambassador to Australia, to fill the long-vacant post of ambassador to South Korea instead, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump’s nominee to be secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, had asked Harris to take the key post in Seoul, which has been vacant since Trump took office in January last year, a source with knowledge of the situation said.

Three U.S. officials confirmed the plan to nominate Harris, who was in Washington on Tuesday for a Senate committee hearing on his Australia nomination. That hearing was postponed indefinitely.

“The national security situation on the Korean Peninsula is of the highest priority,” one of the officials said when asked to confirm the switch in nominations. “Our relationship with Australia is and remains steadfast.”

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Trump nominated Harris, who is known for hawkish views on China’s military expansion, to serve as ambassador to Australia in February, but filling the Seoul post has become even more of a priority as diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear weapons have intensified.

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