Obama picks Korean-American diplomat as ambassador to Malaysia

U.S. President Barack Obama announced his decision Wednesday to nominate Joseph Yun, a Korean-American career diplomat, as ambassador to Malaysia.

Yun has been serving as acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs since Kurt Campbell left the position last month.

If confirmed by the Senate, Yun will succeed Paul Jones, the current ambassador to Malaysia. A date for his confirmation hearing by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has not been yet.

Born in South Korea, he joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1985 and worked in South Korea, Thailand, France, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

As principal deputy assistant secretary handling Southeast Asian affairs, he is known to have played a major role in the recent U.S. diplomacy with Myanmar.

From 2009 to 2010, he was Director of the Office of Maritime Southeast Asia. (Yonhap News)