The Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday unanimously endorsed the nomination of Board of Trustees Chairman Stephen Bosworth '61 as United States ambassador to South Korea.
Now that Bosworth has received the 18-member committee's endorsement, the full Senate will vote to either confirm or reject his nomination in the upcoming weeks at a date yet to be determined.
It is unlikely that Bosworth, who has the backing of the State Department, will encounter much opposition in his bid to become ambassador. A majority vote on the Senate floor is needed for him to be confirmed.
If named ambassador, Bosworth will most likely remain Chairman of Dartmouth's Board of Trustees. He has served on the Board since 1992 and became chairman during the spring of 1996.
Bosworth first appeared before the Foreign Relations Committee on Sept. 24, 1997, three weeks after accepting President Clinton's nomination.
He told the Committee at that time that he would "greatly welcome the opportunity and the challenge" of working in South Korea.
Although diplomatic ties between the U.S. and South Korea have been growing, he said, North Korea is still "a potential threat to ... peace and security."
"We remain fully committed to maintain our troop strength at the current level in Korea," Bosworth said. "Military deference of North Korea must remain the bedrock of our relationship ... so long as North Korea maintains its hostile posture."
Bosworth is no stranger to the American diplomatic corps. He was the chief envoy to Tunisia from 1979 to 1981 and the ambassador to the Philippines from 1984 to 1987.
The South Korean ambassador post has been vacant since the resignation of the previous ambassador, James Laney, in January.
