On May 22, 2018 (local time) at the White House, John Bolton, then White House National Security Advisor (from left), Jeong Eui-yong, head of the Blue House National Security Office, Cho Yoon-je, Korean Ambassador to the United States, Kang Kyung-hwa, Foreign Minister Yoon Young-chan, Blue House National Communication Chief, Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State The minister talking. Provided by the Blue House
As President Eui-yong Eui-yong was nominated as a candidate for the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Security on the 20th, Minister Kang Kyung-hwa, the longest minister, who was appointed with the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration, was withdrawn. As much as the shock caused by the unprecedented selection of a’non-mainstream’ female human rights expert who was close to obscurity three years and seven months ago, a full-scale change of’without sound rumors’ is also a hot topic. Minister Kang was appointed as the first foreign minister of the Moon Jae-in administration in May 2017. The qualifier’unprecedented’ followed in that she was a woman who had a career in multilateral diplomacy from a non-foreign affairs exam. Minister Kang, who served as a special policy advisor to the UN Secretary-General Antonius Guterchs, received the most attention from the first cabinet of the Moon Jae-in administration. It is the first female foreign minister since the establishment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1948, and is evaluated as the most widely known internationally as well as the public among 38’Korean Foreign Ministers’. The rumor of changing Minister Kang has been around since the middle of last year. On several occasions, he also revealed his position that he was “not obsessed with the seats”, which gave strength to the replacement theory. However, due to the fact that President Moon’s credibility is strong and’there is no one to replace’, the rumors of replacement have disappeared. It is known for the reason that there is no symbolic person enough to replace him, who has been deeply imprinted by the public, and the reason for replacement is weak. After the end of the year, the prevailing prospect was that it would become the so-called ‘King-Hwa Oh’, who will be with President Moon for five years. However, with the announcement of his successor on this day, the last minister of the first cabinet of the Moon Jae-in administration was also withdrawn.
material photo” alt=”Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa approaches the security staff who salutes and asks for a handshake after the inauguration ceremony held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office in Doryeum-dong, Seoul on the morning of June 19, 2017. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa approaches the security staff who salutes and asks for a handshake after the inauguration ceremony held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office in Doryeum-dong, Seoul on the morning of June 19, 2017. <한겨레> Material photo
Minister Kang’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who entered with the goal of’Ministry of Foreign Affairs Innovation’, has changed a lot over the past three years and seven months. What stands out most is the change in organizational culture. Internal evaluation is that the vertical culture centered on seniority, like any other organization, has been broken. An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “In Korean society, there will be no case in a short period of time to create a horizontal and respectful culture (like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) among such large organizations.” In the past, the inefficient form of work, which required overtime and weekend work, even without special work, has also disappeared. An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “Everyone had a sleepless night during the predecessor of the’owl’ temperament, and that culture disappeared when Minister Kang entered.” Earlier in his inauguration address, Minister Kang emphasized’Woraval’, saying, “Awaiting overtime and weekend work should not be evaluated as a commitment to work.” For that reason, some criticize the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ staff as’the screw is missing’, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff’s evaluation is good. During his tenure as Minister Kang, the organization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also changed significantly. The proportion of female executives increased, and female managers were born in key departments such as the Korean Peninsula Peace Bargaining Headquarters and North America. Within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are evaluations that the working-level staff assigned to the US Embassy in Washington, which is considered an’elite course’, “has diversified from the center of North American and North Korean nuclear weapons in the past,” or “the personnel became fair through fair procedures.” Most of all, it was said to have played a big role in raising junior-class morale by listening to the opinions of employees. It is said that small actions such as the minister correcting the speech posted by the secretary in English and returning it with’K’ (K) had a positive effect. In response to the news of Minister Kang’s change that day, a number of employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded “sorry”. However, it is also true that he was not free from various controversies throughout his tenure. The comment that followed Minister Kang from his inauguration was that “the lack of understanding of the North Korean nuclear and North American affairs led to poor control.” In the early years of his tenure, he misrepresented North Korea’s nuclear and North Korean-related messages, resulting in confusion, which added weight to the evaluation. Although North Korea-US negotiations began in 2018, many point out that the presence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was weak or that it failed to come up with such a solution while the relationship between Korea and Japan was bottoming out. Even though Minister Kang announced the principle of “no tolerance for sexual abuse,” it is regrettable that sexual abuse cases and accidents have not ceased at overseas missions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs refutes that “the report and handling system has been officially established, such as requiring consultation counters for sexual harassment and sexual violence grievances to be installed at each overseas diplomatic mission.” Do. It is pointed out that although a human rights expert who is recognized for his experience in the international arena, he did not speak out when necessary in Korea. The evaluations surrounding Minister Kang are bound to be different in the future. Some will evaluate that “the Minister of Foreign Affairs has established a new award”, but there are also criticisms that “they failed to achieve results in the North Korean nuclear and quadruple diplomacy, which are the core concerns of Korean diplomacy.” But what is clear is that it will be the most talked-about foreign minister among 38 ministers. By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter [email protected]