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Trump nominates former White House official involved in North Korea diplomacy as under Secretary of State

Published: 13 Feb. 2025, 09:59

From left, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Alex Wong, aide Lisa Kenna, NSC Korea Director Allison Hooker, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Andrew Kim, the head of the CIA's Korea Mission Center, walk back into the Park Hwa Guest House after speaking together following a meeting with Kim Yong Chol, a North Korean senior ruling party official and former intelligence chief, in Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, July 6, 2018. [POOL/REUTERS/YONHAP]

U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated a former White House official who was involved in diplomacy with North Korea during his first term, as under Secretary of State for political affairs, according to Congress.

On Tuesday, the president notified Congress of the decision to nominate Allison Hooker, who previously served as senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, a key post for U.S. policy toward the Indo-Pacific, according to Congress' website.

Her nomination comes after Trump has voiced his openness to reengaging with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and reaffirmed his commitment to pursuing the "complete denuclearization of North Korea."

During the first Trump administration, Hooker was deeply involved in preparations for Trump's summits with North Korean leader Kim in Singapore in June 2018, Hanoi in February 2019 and the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019.

From 2001-2014, Hooker served as a senior analyst for North Korea in the Department of State's Bureau of Intelligence and Research. She was also selected as the 2013-2014 Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs fellow in South Korea.

Before the nomination, she had been mentioned as a possible candidate for U.S. ambassador to South Korea.

Trump has also nominated Thomas DiNanno, former deputy assistant secretary of state, as under Secretary of State for arms control and international security — a post that deals with matters related to America's extended deterrence to South Korea.

DiNanno is currently an adjunct fellow at the Washington-based Hudson Institute. On its website, the institute said that he previously led the United States' extended deterrence engagement with South Korea, Japan and Australia, as well as the United States, China Space Security Dialogue in Beijing in 2019.

Extended deterrence refers to the United States' commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear arms, to defend its ally.

Yonhap