New US envoy to PHL to arrive in Manila December 1

US Ambassador-Designate to the Philippines Sung Kim is expected to arrive at the NAIA Terminal 1 in Pasay City on Thursday evening, the US Embassy in Manila said Tuesday.

Kim is the first US Ambassador to the Philippines with an Asian heritage. He replaces US Ambassador Philip Goldberg who has been serving in the Philippines since 2013.

President Rodrigo Duterte had made a gay slur against Goldberg, who turned 60 last August.

Kim, who was born in but grew up in the US, was sworn in by US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington D.C. last November 3.

In a news release, the US Embassy said outgoing US President Barack Obama nominated Kim to the position on May 19 and Kim's appointment was confirmed by the US Senate on September 28.

Kim was born in Seoul but his family migrated to Los Angeles when he was 13 years old. He became a US citizen in 1980 at age 20.

He studied at the University of Pennsylvania  before getting a law degree from the Loyola University in the US.

He also has a Master of Laws degree from the London School of Economics and an honorary doctorate from the Catholic University of Korea.

Before he was named US Ambassador to the Philippines, Kim served as Special Representative for North Korea Policy and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Korea and Japan.

He was also the US Ambassador to South Korea from 2011 to 2014.

He had also served as the Special Envoy for the Six-Party Talks; director of the Office of Korean Affairs; desk officer in the Office of Chinese Affairs, and Staff Assistant in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs. 

Kim was a public prosecutor in Los Angeles before he joined the US Foreign Service.

He is married to Jae Eun Chung and they have two daughters. — Veronica Pulumbarit/RSJ, GMA News