Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense to make major personnel changes at the end of the year
Lee Jae-myung administration, the proportion of specially appointed diplomatic missions is likely to exceed 30%
There is also a phenomenon of diplomats preferring ‘foreign embassies’ to avoid the political circles.
Ahn Gyu-baek “I will appoint a military general soon… It is large in scale, but we need to have a new base.”
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- Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense to make major personnel changes at the end of the yearLee Jae-myung administration, the proportion of specially appointed diplomatic missions is likely to exceed 30%There is also a phenomenon of diplomats preferring ‘foreign embassies’ to avoid the political circles.Ahn Gyu-baek “I will appoint a military general soon… It is large in scale, but we need to have a new base.”
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Panoramic view of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs government building in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Hankook Ilbo file photo
The government, which successfully concluded the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, the largest diplomatic event of the year, plans to begin year-end personnel changes in the foreign affairs and security ministries. In particular, large-scale personnel changes are expected in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense, and it is predicted that the ratio of specially appointed missionaries to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will also hit an all-time high. The society of diplomatic and security officials is in turmoil.
According to multiple government officials on the 9th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to announce the personnel of the office and director as early as the end of this month or early next month. The appointment of about 170 heads of diplomatic missions abroad is expected to be completed next month. Among these, there are predictions that the proportion of specially appointed heads of diplomatic missions will exceed up to 30%.
The head of a special mission refers to a case where a professor or former politician, rather than a career diplomat, serves as the head of a diplomatic mission abroad for reasons such as ‘high understanding of the philosophy of state administration’ or ‘expertise’. However, it is true that so far, it has been used as a position of gratitude, having been selected for reasons such as close relationships with powerful figures in the government, such as the President, rather than expertise.
Previously, controversy arose last September when lawyer Cha Ji-hoon was appointed as special head of mission as ambassador to the United Nations. Ambassador Cha is a classmate of President Lee Jae-myung in the civil service examination and training program, and participated in the defense team for violation of the Public Official Election Act in 2020 when President Lee was the governor of Gyeonggi Province, and obtained a verdict of not guilty and remand. As a result, the opposition party criticized the appointment as a parachute appointment.
Currently, among the 173 positions for heads of diplomatic missions abroad, there are a total of 40 vacant positions: 23 for ambassadors (excluding those appointed) and 17 for consuls general. Last September, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a notice to internal personnel saying that it was accepting applications for heads of diplomatic missions abroad, but did not provide specific information in which countries the vacant positions were available. A government source said, “I understand that it was difficult to make a detailed announcement because specially appointed heads of diplomatic missions can fill a significant portion of the 40 or so vacant positions at diplomatic missions.”
For this reason, there has recently been a growing trend among professional diplomats to apply for positions that provide rough terrain allowances, work for ‘foreign missions’ that receive relatively less attention from the political world, or serve as lower-ranking officials rather than heads of missions. They say they prefer positions where they don’t have to ‘watch the politicians’.
Moreover, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is showing signs of confusion in personnel appointments, which will ‘break the standard’. This is because Vice Minister Park Yoon-joo, the first vice minister, is in the 29th class of the Foreign Service Examination, so appointments to offices and directors can be made centered around the candidates under him. There are observations that diplomats from the 25th to 28th classes who are still in office may be sent to overseas embassies in large numbers or may not be assigned positions.
Shin Bong-gil, head of the Korea Council on Foreign Relations, said, “Diplomats are a job that receives considerable training so that they can simultaneously handle a torrent of tasks such as political affairs, economic trade, and protection of their citizens,” adding, “It is questionable whether this can really lead to strengthening expertise in a situation where specially appointed heads of missions are not selected based on the same standards.”
The Ministry of Defense also announced significant personnel changes
Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-baek is answering questions from lawmakers at the National Defense Committee plenary meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 5th. Reporter Ko Young-kwon
Meanwhile, it is reported that the Ministry of Defense will also begin a large-scale personnel change of generals next week. Minister of National Defense Ahn Kyu-baek appeared on the air today and announced that he plans to announce the personnel of military generals soon. When asked, “There are predictions that this will be the biggest reshuffle since the disbandment of Hanahoe under the Kim Young-sam administration,” Minister Ahn said, “It is true that the scale is large, but it is not that big. Even if there is pain, all those who are polluted or problematic (by the December 3 illegal martial law) must be cut out and a new position established.”
Jaeyeon Moon reporter munjae@hankookilbo.com
