Portrait of the US Ambassador to Vietnam just approved by the US Senate
On December 18, the US Senate approved a series of candidates for diplomatic positions abroad, including the position of US Ambassador to Vietnam held by Mr. Marc Evans Knapper, 8 months after President Biden's nomination.
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was approved as Japan's ambassador by a vote of 48 to 21. The candidates for ambassadors to Spain, Vietnam and Somalia were approved by voice vote to speed up the process.
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| US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Evans Knapper was just approved by the US Senate on December 18. Photo: White House |
The US Senate on December 18 confirmed more than 30 ambassadors and other positions previously nominated by President Biden after months of delay.
Previously, on April 15, Mr. Marc Evans Knapper was nominated by President Biden to the position of the next Ambassador to Vietnam after the US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink ended his term. Mr. Daniel Kritenbrink was nominated by President Biden as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific.
Mr. Marc Knapper is a member of the U.S. Department of State’s Senior Foreign Service and has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Korea and Japan since September 2018. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Marc served as Chargé d’Affaires from 2017 to 2018 and as Deputy Chief of Mission from 2015 to 2016 in Seoul, South Korea.
Prior to that, Marc served as Director of India Affairs, Director of Japan Affairs and held other positions in Tokyo, Seoul, Hanoi and Baghdad.The US Ambassador to Vietnam has worked in North Korea twice. In 2017, he was a representative of the US State Department on the Spent Fuel Team at the Yongbyon nuclear facility and in 2000, he was a member of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's delegation to Pyongyang.
Mr. Marc received the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award, America's highest diplomatic honor.
Mr. Marc graduated with honors from Princeton University and has studied at the University of Tokyo, Middlebury College's Japanese Language Program, the U.S. Army War College, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's XXI Research Program.
The US Ambassador to Vietnam can speak Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese./.
