Campbell chosen as U.S. State Dept.'s chief Asia diplomat: sources

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (Yonhap) -- Kurt Campbell, ex-U.S. deputy assistant secretary
of defense, has been named as the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and
Pacific affairs under the incoming Obama administration, sources here said
Thursday.

Campbell, currently head of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a
private think tank, met with a group of South Korean officials and scholars
Wednesday to discuss North Korea's nuclear ambitions and other issues of mutual
concern, a source said.
Another source said that Campbell's meeting with the South Korean delegation was
held at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on a closed-door basis
due to the sensitivity of the timing.
"We've decided not to reveal who attended the meeting as some of them await
congressional confirmation hearings," the source said.
Among the South Korean participants at the meeting were Kim Tae-hyo, presidential
secretary for national strategy, Han Sung-joo, former South Korean foreign
minister, and Wi Sung-lac, special assistant to Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan.
Campbell has to go through a Congressional confirmation hearing along with other
assistant secretary-level officials sometime in the coming weeks, after
Cabinet-level officials complete their confirmation hearings.
Secretary of Health and Human Services-designate Tom Daschle attended on Thursday
a confirmation hearing, the first of the Obama administration, which takes office
on Jan. 20.
Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton's confirmation hearing is to be held
Tuesday.
Campbell also serves as director of the Aspen Strategy Group and as chairman of
the Editorial Board of the Washington Quarterly.
Jeffrey Bader, a senior researcher at the Brookings Institution, will likely
serve as senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council.
Frank Januzzi, a key foreign policy adviser for the Obama's campaign, will either
be Campbell's deputy or work for the office of Vice President-elect Joseph Biden,
the sources said.
There has been much talks surrounding the fate of Assistant Secretary Christopher
Hill, with some saying he will continue his role as the head U.S. delegate to the
six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions and others saying he
will quit to seek a position in the private sector.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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