Biden appoints a professional diplomat to serve as envoy to Sri Lanka.

President Joe Biden has named Julie Chung, a female diplomat in the US Foreign Service, as the US envoy to Sri Lanka.

Julie Jiyoon Chung, 49, now serves as Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs and was nominated on Tuesday. She must be confirmed by the Senate before she can travel to the island nation.

Chung, who was born in Seoul and speaks Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Khmer, was previously Director of the State Department's Office of Japanese Affairs.

She formerly worked as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and as the Economic Counsellor at the US Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand.

Chung was also the Transition Coordinator's Chief of Staff at the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. She has also worked at the United States embassies in Colombia, Vietnam, and Japan, as well as the United States Consulate General in Guangzhou, China. She has been named a Pickering Fellow.

Chung received her bachelor's degree in arts from the University of California-San Diego and her master's degree in international and public affairs from Columbia University.

She has received a number of honors, including the Secretary of State's Distinguished Honour Award.