Foreign minister focuses on geopolitical crises at gathering of mission heads in Seoul

More than 180 South Korean heads of diplomatic missions gathered in Seoul for an annual conference Monday, with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul opening the session with a speech on South Korean diplomacy in an age of geopolitical transition.

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, center and heads of overseas missions sing the national anthem during an annual conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Monday. [YONHAP]

More than 180 South Korean heads of diplomatic missions from around the world gathered in Seoul for an annual conference Monday, with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul opening the session with a speech on South Korean diplomacy in an age of geopolitical transition.

“For the past several decades, we have been so busy managing inter-Korean relations and ties with neighboring powers that we have become accustomed to accepting the geopolitical environment we are in as fate, reacting passively according to the logic of each changing situation,” Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said in his opening speech for the conference Monday.

Ambassadors, consuls general and other heads of overseas missions returned to South Korea to attend the five-day conference, which will run until Friday. This year’s conference theme is “Our Diplomatic Strategy in an Age of Geopolitical Transition.”

“The geopolitical crisis that threatens our survival now is too complex to handle with such an outdated attitude," Cho said in his opening speech. "Our national power and status and the international community’s expectation of South Korea have grown greatly,”

Cho stressed that protecting national interests amid geopolitical uncertainty while contributing to the international community's freedom, peace and prosperity “comes with difficult decisions and responsibilities” and that the conference will review South Korea’s way forward.

“There is no place for diplomacy that follows the past in a time of great change and transition,” he continued. “We must respond flexibly and agilely to changes in the times with innovative and creative thinking and proactive diplomacy.”

Cho also laid out diplomatic directions regarding the four neighboring and great powers: the United States, Japan, China and Russia.

“We will steadily implement the Camp David Agreement and speedily institutionalize South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation,” Cho said, adding that with Japan, South Korea will actively consult with its neighbor to create a new turning point in Seoul-Tokyo relations on the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties next year.

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul gives an opening speech at the annual conference of heads of overseas missions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Monday. [YONHAP]

Regarding relations with China, Cho said that “we will make careful efforts to ensure that the South Korea-Japan-China summit to be held soon will promote the development of the relationship between South Korea and China” and that with Russia, despite the “basic constraints due to the war in Ukraine,” Seoul will manage its ties with Moscow as “strategically as possible.”

On South Korea’s role in the UN Security Council, where it is currently serving as a non-permanent member for a term of two years, Cho said that “consistency in accordance with principles and standards will be maintained, at times bearing short-term costs and burdens on bilateral relations,” while Korea will “uphold international standards to protect the rules-based international order.”

In particular, Cho said that South Korea’s recent vote in the Security Council in favor of full UN membership for Palestine was a “difficult decision.”

On Sunday, Israel announced its intention to protest the move by summoning ambassadors from countries, including South Korea, that supported the resolution.

During the conference, the heads of missions will discuss diplomatic strategies amid geopolitical transition, such as the intensifying strategic competition between the United States and China, the North Korean nuclear threat, the prolonged war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East.

One of the mission heads gathered in Seoul for the conference was ambassador to China Chung Jae-ho, who is under investigation for allegedly abusing his power against a staffer in Beijing. The Foreign Ministry's audit office has not announced any separate investigation plans for Chung while he is in town.

The ambassadors to Israel, Iran and Lebanon, as well as the head of the mission in Palestine, did not attend the conference due to political tensions in their respective regions, and the ambassador to the UN was absent for health reasons.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]