New U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg speaks to reporters at Incheon International Airport, Sunday. Goldberg will lead the U.S. mission in Seoul by taking the post that had remained vacant for more than a year since the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden. Yonhap

By Jung Min-ho

Philip Goldberg, the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea, arrived in Seoul, Sunday, at a critical juncture for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Goldberg, who vowed to pursue the comprehensive, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization of Pyongyang at his Senate confirmation hearing in April, will lead the U.S. mission in Seoul by taking the post that had remained vacant for more than a year since U.S. President Joe Biden was inaugurated.

"I'm honored to represent the American people and President Biden at this very important moment in our relations," Goldberg, 65, told reporters after arriving at Incheon International Airport in Incheon before heading to his office in Seoul. "Relations between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) were forged in conflict, a great alliance, and now we're moving, thanks to agreements between our two presidents, to a global partnership."

Goldberg added South Korea is admired around the world for its excellence in technology and culture and the two countries can "do a lot" together to accomplish "even more security and more prosperity for our two countries and peoples."

The career diplomat, who worked as coordinator from 2009 to 2010 for the implementation of U.N. sanctions on North Korea after its nuclear test, is now tasked with coordinating security and military efforts for peace between Seoul and Washington amid North Korea's increasing nuclear and missile threats.

"Comprehensive, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization ― those are difficult goals, but they fit very well with our non-proliferation goals," he said during the hearing before the Senate Foreign Services Committee. "They fit with our policy of deterrence, building, broadening, deepening our alliances with the Republic of Korea, and doing all possible to defend against a rogue regime in North Korea that is violating at every opportunity U.N. resolutions, their own commitments, international agreements."

Goldberg begins his job two months after South Korea started to alter its conciliatory approach to the North under the newly inaugurated President Yoon Suk-yeol, who pledges firm responses to Pyongyang's military provocations.

South Korean policymakers and security experts, including the foreign and unification ministers, believe North Korea is now set for another nuclear weapons test. This North has fired 31 missiles so far this year, including the launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) for the first time in nearly five years.

Asked about the efficacy of the existing sanctions on North Korea during his hearing, Goldberg said sanctions are "an important element," even though they alone may not be sufficient to change North Korea's behavior.

"North Korea wants those sanctions lifted, which is a reason to keep pressing because they want them lifted for a reason … They are an important element but they're not an element that will necessarily do the trick by themselves," he said.

Goldberg also underscored that "a solid alliance" with Japan is important for a more effective deterrence against the North.

Goldberg, who served as ambassador to Colombia from September 2019 to June 2022, is a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, the highest diplomatic rank in its foreign service. Before his stint in the South American country, Goldberg served as the U.S. ambassador to Cuba (February 2018 to July 2018) and to the Philippines (December 2013 to October 2016) and assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research (February 2010 to November 2013).