New U.S. ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens was sworn in on Monday as the first female U.S. ambassador to Seoul. At a swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. State Department, she said, "The time is right to make the changes in our security alliance that reflect today's Korea and today's America, and the ways in which we can work together to build a safer and better world." She said the bilateral free trade agreement and U.S. visa waiver program for Korean travelers are events that will bring the two countries’ relations closer.







U.S. Ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens (left) is sworn in at the U.S State Department of on Monday as her son James and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice look on. /Yonhap





Having worked and lived in Korea and at one time used the Korean name Shim Eun-kyung, Stephens returns 33 years after she first arrived in Yesan, South Chungcheong Province as a member of Peace Corps in 1975. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice swore in Stephens, while Stephens’ son James (22), a college student born to her and her former Korean husband, looked on.



Republican Senator John Warner, the only Korean War veteran in the U.S. Senate, Walter Sharp, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, Korean ambassador to the U.S. Lee Tae-shik and his wife, and former U.S. ambassador to Korea James Lilley attended the swearing-in. In Korean, Stephens said, "I'll do my best to live up to your expectations."



