ID :
198833
Wed, 08/03/2011 - 04:51
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/198833
The shortlink copeid
Senate confirmation of Sung Kim delayed till September
By Lee Chi-dong
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) - Sung Kim, the nominee to become the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, will likely have to wait one more month to be confirmed by the Senate, congressional sources said Tuesday.
The Senate entered summer recess on Tuesday night, after passing a debt limit bill, without confirming Kim, the sources said. Congress reconvenes on Sept. 6.
"The issue of confirming the ambassador-designate was among agenda items on the Senate floor before it went into recess," a source said.
Congress was originally supposed to start the summer break on Aug. 6. However, since lawmakers worked on the debt ceiling talks during the Independence Day holidays, they broke four days earlier, added the source.
Another source also said, "Initially, the Senate considered handling the confirmation today of Sung Kim, along with Derek Mitchell, who has been nominated to be U.S. coordinator for policy on Myanmar, but it didn't do so because there were many other things to deal with."
Kim went through a confirmation hearing on July 21, and he was confirmed by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations a week later. He has yet to be confirmed by the entire Senate.
The sources said, however, Kim's confirmation appears to be just a matter of time since no senators have raised objections to his nomination.
If confirmed, Kim, the State Department's top Korea expert, will become the first Korean-born U.S. ambassador to Seoul.
Meanwhile, the Senate indefinitely postponed a confirmation hearing for Wendy Sherman, nominated as undersecretary of state for political affairs, slated for Wednesday, due to the earlier-than-scheduled break.
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) - Sung Kim, the nominee to become the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, will likely have to wait one more month to be confirmed by the Senate, congressional sources said Tuesday.
The Senate entered summer recess on Tuesday night, after passing a debt limit bill, without confirming Kim, the sources said. Congress reconvenes on Sept. 6.
"The issue of confirming the ambassador-designate was among agenda items on the Senate floor before it went into recess," a source said.
Congress was originally supposed to start the summer break on Aug. 6. However, since lawmakers worked on the debt ceiling talks during the Independence Day holidays, they broke four days earlier, added the source.
Another source also said, "Initially, the Senate considered handling the confirmation today of Sung Kim, along with Derek Mitchell, who has been nominated to be U.S. coordinator for policy on Myanmar, but it didn't do so because there were many other things to deal with."
Kim went through a confirmation hearing on July 21, and he was confirmed by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations a week later. He has yet to be confirmed by the entire Senate.
The sources said, however, Kim's confirmation appears to be just a matter of time since no senators have raised objections to his nomination.
If confirmed, Kim, the State Department's top Korea expert, will become the first Korean-born U.S. ambassador to Seoul.
Meanwhile, the Senate indefinitely postponed a confirmation hearing for Wendy Sherman, nominated as undersecretary of state for political affairs, slated for Wednesday, due to the earlier-than-scheduled break.
