Quick Take | Here’s why Trump can’t find a US ambassador to South Korea
Preventive war good, free trade bad, mass evacuation of 280,000 Americans not a problem... if that’s what you think, chances are you aren’t a seasoned diplomat.
Help Wanted: US Ambassador to Korea. Seasoned diplomat or foreign area specialist preferred. Must think preventive war is a good idea, the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement is a bad idea and that it wouldn’t be too disruptive if 280,000 American citizens were suddenly evacuated from the Korean Peninsula.
Full disclosure: Victor Cha is a close personal friend who would have been an ideal choice, given his deep academic knowledge and foreign policy experience. He served as Asia director on the National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration. He was even smart enough not to join many of his Republican colleagues in the “never Trump” or “I’m with her” movements.
But if news reports are to be believed, he was dropped from consideration, even after an extensive vetting process and a diplomatic OK from Seoul.
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When I learnt that the ambassadorial position was once again open, I drafted a list of the handful of people I thought were qualified and suitable for the job. Then I matched them against the presumed job qualifications and discovered that no one remained on the list. In fact, I can’t think of anyone even marginally qualified for the job who would meet the requirements as outlined in the mock job advertisement above.