By 
Netizens, I have been travelling more than usual outside Korea in recent months, one reason for fewer blogs. One trip was to Washington, D.C. in February where Secretary of State Hillary Clinton convoked all of the American ambassadors from around the world in the first-ever U.S. Global Chiefs of Mission Conference. In the past we had gathered in regional groupings, but Secretary Clinton wanted to gather all of us for several days of discussions with her and our top leadership in Washington. Some of you may have heard me talk about Secretary Clinton’s description of U.S. foreign policy as comprised of a “three-legged stool: of defense, diplomacy and development” and during the conference we discussed how diplomats and development experts can and must devise solutions to problems that might otherwise require military action. [Ambassador Stephens Blog]
You can read more at the link, but I just found it ironic that these ambassadors were discussing diplomacy and development to prevent military action while US planes and ships were bombing Libya.
Anyway I like Ambassador Stephens and I think she has done a great job as the US ambassador to South Korea.
6:10 am on April 6th, 2011 1
Probably the best US ambassador to Korea, ever. The other one I liked was Donald Greg.
12:31 pm on April 6th, 2011 2
I would have to agree. She hit the ground running, and has been out in front of almost every major issue that concerens U.S-Korea relations. I was really taken for surprise of how well she speaks Korean.
10:55 pm on April 8th, 2011 3
Wow Tom had something good to say about an American?
Anyway I think what makes her an effective ambassador is that this isn't just some other diplomatic posting for her, she speaks the language and really loves being in Korea. I think this allows her to better understand the nuances of Korea and is thus a better ambassador than what we have seen in the past.
11:15 pm on April 8th, 2011 4
Interesting: Kathleen Stephens was nominated by President Bush on January 23, 2008 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 1, 2008 to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Korea.
She speaks Korean and Serbo-Croatian, with limited competence in Cantonese and Mandarin.
10:09 am on April 10th, 2011 5
Obama and Clinton are wise enough to keep good people who may have been nominated by their predecessors.