WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is picking four longtime public servants to be his new ambassadors to South Korea, Honduras, Qatar (GUH’-tur) and Kazakhstan (kah-zahk-STAHN’).

The White House said Thursday that Mark Lippert is Obama’s choice for Korea. Lippert served in the Navy in Iraq and Afghanistan and is now a deputy secretary of defense. He was a foreign policy adviser on Obama’s first presidential campaign.

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