WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― President Barack Obama has appointed Kathleen Stephens, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, as acting undersecretary of state in charge of Washington’s public diplomacy, the department said Monday.

“President Obama has designated Ambassador Kathleen Stephens as acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs,”department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said at a press briefing.

Stephens started her new work, helping lead America’s engagement with the people of the world, to fill the vacancy amid a stalled confirmation process of Tara Sonenshine, according to Nuland.

Sonenshine, executive vice president at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), was named as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy three months ago but she has yet to be confirmed.

“This is something that we do, and it’s a big job where we need somebody to do the work in the interim,” Nuland said.

Stephens worked as Washington’s top envoy in Seoul for three years until 2011. She speaks Korean relatively fluently, based on her service as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Asian nation in the 1970s. She is highly admired for her tireless efforts to reach out to ordinary Korean people. She is also known for her love of Korean culture and food.

Her new post was left vacant since the departure of Judith McHale last year. Ann Stock, who is also assistant secretary for educational and cultural affairs, had since handled relevant affairs.

“But that’s a big job, too, so we decided we needed to bring in reinforcements for the interim period,” Nuland said.