Mercedes Benz

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. executive Steve Biegun is quitting as vice president of international government affairs to return to Washington, his old stomping ground, where he will be Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's special envoy for North Korea. The automaker last week also said that its vice president of manufacturing and labor affairs, Bruce Hettle, will retire on Oct. 1. His successor — who will be the chief negotiator during next year's contract talks with the UAW — is Gary Johnson, currently Ford's vice president for North America manufacturing. Biegun was appointed by Pompeo on Thursday, Aug. 23, to manage negotiations with South Korea over dismantling its nuclear weapons program, and the two plan to travel to Pyongyang this week. He is the second veteran lobbyist in Washington to leave the automaker. Chief lobbyist Ziad Ojakli exited last month to join Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. and Biegun took over his position. After managing the automaker's international ...