Seoul, February 23 – Michael Needham, a senior US diplomat and close aide to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is visiting South Korea to discuss ways to strengthen the Seoul-Washington alliance and address security issues, the US Embassy in Seoul said on Monday.
Needham's visit comes as South Korea is seeking to implement the agreements reached at last year's summit, which include Seoul's USD 350 billion investment pledge as part of a trade deal between the two countries.
"Needham is visiting South Korea 'for discussions with ROK partners on strengthening the strong US-South Korea Alliance and advancing our shared commitment to prosperity and security in the Indo-Pacific'," the US Embassy said on the social media platform X, without disclosing other details of his itinerary, Yonhap News Agency reported.
ROK is the acronym for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
Earlier in the day, Needham had breakfast with Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and discussed the implementation of a joint fact sheet that Seoul and Washington released in November, outlining agreements in the security and trade sectors, according to diplomatic sources.
He also met with Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Eui-hae to discuss Seoul's efforts to swiftly implement the joint summit agreements, they said.
Needham previously served as chief of staff to Rubio when the top US diplomat was a senator. In 2025, he briefly worked as Rubio's chief of staff before assuming the current role as counsellor of the State Department.
A US delegation for negotiations on security-related issues was widely expected to visit South Korea as early as late this month, but details about the trip have not been confirmed yet.
The allies seek to implement the joint summit document that includes Washington's approval of Seoul's push to build nuclear-powered submarines and the pursuit of civil uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing rights.