From foreign minister to deputy prime minister

The time has come for the country to reinforce its diplomatic capability in the world.

Yeom Jae-ho

The author, a former president of Korea University, is the president of Taejae University. The year 2023 is coming to an end. The top priority for the Yoon Suk Yeol administration this year must have been to host the 2030 World Expo, though the bid failed. The president, prime minister, Busan mayor and corporate leaders did their best to stage the event in Korea’s second-largest city. Targeting 182 member countries, they traveled a remarkable distance: combined, enough to travel the world 496 times, if you include the travels by members of the joint government-civilian committee.

Frustrated by the United Arab Emirates’ hosting of the 2020 Expo and Qatar’s staging of the 2022 World Cup, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was desperate to host the 2030 Expo, as seen by the oil money-based diplomacy by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Though a late starter, Korea also gave it all it had to repeat the miracles like its hosting of the 1988 Seoul Olympics and co-hosting of the 2002 World Cup. But Busan was crushed by Riyadh with the shabby score of 29-119 in the first round of voting.

Despite the outstanding final presentation led by K-pop and K-drama in Paris, Korea could not overcome the methodical diplomatic campaign by Saudi Arabia. The loss could be attributed more to a lack of diplomatic skills than to a shortage of money. A country’s diplomatic ability matters more for the Expo — a cultural Olympiad — than the sports-oriented Olympics or World Cup.

Outgoing Foreign Minister Park Jin, center, holds hands with his Japanese counterpart Yoko Kamikawa, left, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before a tripartite meeting on security and economy at the Nurimaru APEC House in Busan on Nov. 26. [SONG BONG-GEUN]

Korea’s diplomacy does not match its economic power. Owing to its passive response to diplomatic strategies of the powers like the United States, China and Japan, Korea could not strengthen its diplomatic capability. I was often surprised to see ambassadors from former socialist countries speak Korean fluently even while many of our diplomats cannot speak the language of foreign countries where they are dispatched, unless it’s English. Some of our diplomats sent to China or Japan are unable to speak Chinese or Japanese.

Korea has become one of the top 10 economies thanks to its export-driven growth. But its diplomacy does not match its economic power. Korea’s GDP of $1.673 trillion ranked 13th in the world, five notches higher than the Netherlands at $991.9 billion. The Netherlands, with the experience of running an empire, boasts of its strong diplomatic power, as evidenced by the number of its overseas missions, 129, compared to Korea’s 116. While Korea’s budget for official development assistance (ODA) next year is $2.9 billion, the Netherland’s budget amounts to $6.5 billion.

The rapid breakup of the global value chains from the deepening Sino-U.S. conflict feeds the emergence of a new international order. China and Russia are fast joining hands in an uphill battle against America — and aggressively assist and invest in Africa. Korea needs to take a strategic approach to Africa, Southeast Asia, Central and South America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

However, the status and ability of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are terribly shabby. Due to the importance of the economy, the finance minister also serves as deputy prime minister for economic affairs. The education minister also serves as deputy prime minister for social affairs. In the past, the unification minister and the science and technology minister also served as deputy prime ministers. But the foreign minister did not, despite the strong need for diplomacy, given the export-led economy and Korea’s geopolitical situation surrounded by big powers. In the order of protocol, our foreign minister ranks 19th following the presidential secretary, whereas the foreign secretary ranks fifth in the United States following chief justice of the Supreme Court, house speaker and vice president.

The Yoon administration increased the ODA budget for next year up to 6.5 trillion won ($5 billion), a 44 percent increase from 4.5 trillion won in 2023. The National Assembly cut more than 200 billion won from the budget, but it is still the largest-ever increase. The OECD Development Assistance Committee recommends 28 member countries annually spend 0.3 percent of their GDP in this area, but Korea’s ODA budget for 2022 was only 0.17 percent of its GDP.

The elevation of a country’s national integrity requires that its diplomatic ability matches its economic power. A country’s economy can revive when its soft power in the cultural and diplomatic fronts is enhanced. In an alarming development, an increasing number of people are saying that Korea has already reached its peak, primarily because of the many problems with its domestic politics. Rivaling parties are still stuck fighting one another in the face of dramatic fluctuations of the global economy. If Korea shuns redesigning its global strategy, it has no future. The time has come for the country to reinforce its diplomatic capability in the world by raising the status of foreign minister to the level of deputy prime minister. We cannot afford to accept the judgment that the country has already reached a peak.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.