Korean-American named senior counsel to Obama

Korean-American Christopher Kang was named last week senior counsel to U.S. President Barack Obama for legislative affairs, according to reports on Tuesday.

Kang, who was on Obama’s legislative affairs staff, will be in charge of judicial nominations, it added.

Christopher Kang

Kang, whose Korean name is Kang Jin-young, formerly served as a senior floor counsel to assistant U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Richard Durbin.

The 34-year-old is the younger son of Kang Young-woo, who served on the National Council on Disability during the George W. Bush administration for seven years.

He is a graduate of the University of Chicago and Duke University School of Law. Kang met the first lady Michelle Obama at University of Chicago as a student and professor. Later, he became acquainted with her husband who was then a senator for the state of Illinois.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)