Russel an old hand on Asia issues
Daniel Russel joined the US diplomatic corps in 1985. He served as US National Security Council director for Japan, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from 2009 to 2011. Previously, he was director of the State Department's Office of Japanese Affairs.
His Asia experience includes serving as consul general in Osaka-Kobe, Japan, from 2005 to 2008, and early assignments at the US embassy in Seoul.
Widely regarded as a Japan expert, Russel was involved in the preparations for US Secretary of State John Kerry's trip to China in April and participated in the Xi-Obama summit at the Sunnylands estate in California.
Bonnie Glaser, a senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described Russel as having "solid experience in dealing with the full range of issues in the Asia-Pacific region".
China Daily
(China Daily 06/22/2013 page7)