THE White House announced the nomination of the first Asian-American ambassador to the Philippines even as tensions continued to mount in the South China Sea after the Pentagon complained that two Chinese fighters “unsafely” intercepted a US spy plane in international air space.
The White House announced the appointment of career Korean-American diplomat Sung Y. Kim as new United States envoy to the Philippines to replace Philip Goldberg, whose tour of duty ends this year.
“I am pleased to announce that these experienced and committed individuals have decided to serve our country. I look forward to working with them,” the White House quoted Obama as saying in a statement on key US government appointments.
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The White House statement said Kim is a career member of the US foreign service holding important positions.
He is special representative for North Korea Policy and deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State, positions he has held since 2014.
Previously, he served as US ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 2011 to 2014, special envoy for the Six Party Talks with the rank of Ambassador from 2008 to 2011, and director of the Office of Korean Affairs in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs from 2006 to 2008.
Kim was political-military chief at the US Embassy in Seoul from 2002 to 2006.
Since joining the Foreign Service in 1988, Kim has also held positions at posts in Hong Kong, Japan, and Malaysia.
Prior to joining the foreign service, Kim was a Deputy District Attorney in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, master of law degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and juris doctor degree from Loyola Law School.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Defense said it was reviewing a May 17 intercept of a US maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft by two tactical aircraft from the People’s Republic of China.
“Initial reports characterized the incident as unsafe,” said Pentagon spokesman Major Jamie Davis said in a statement Wednesday, without giving additional details.
The incident comes more than a decade after a collision between a Chinese fighter jet and a US Navy EP-3 spy plane which killed the Chinese pilot and forced the US aircraft to make an emergency landing on the Chinese island province of Hainan.
The crash, which occurred in 2001, unleashed an 11-day standoff as Beijing interrogated the 24 US crew, and held the plane for several months, seriously straining relations between the countries.
They have traded accusations and warnings over such surveillance flights in subsequent years.
The Chinese defense ministry said in a statement faxed to AFP Thursday that they “noted” reports of the latest incident and said it “is very likely linked to the extremely close surveillance of China by US military aircraft”.
The latest intercept came after the Pentagon and China had worked to reduce the risk of mishaps “by improved dialogue at multiple levels”.
“Over the past year, DoD has seen improvements in PRC actions, flying in a safe and professional manner,” Davis said.
“DoD is addressing the (intercept) through the appropriate diplomatic and military channels.”
The encounter also came days after China accused the US of distorting facts in a report on the Asian giant’s defense policy and warned Washington it had “severely damaged” trust between the superpowers. – With AFP
