New York Consul General: "Korean Diplomatic Infrastructure, a Deformed Body with a Big Head and No Hands or Feet"

"Currently, our country's diplomacy is a distorted structure with an oversized head but no hands or feet." Consul General Kim Eui-hwan in New York made candid remarks about the poor diplomatic infrastructure.

On the 29th (local time), Consul General Kim held a press briefing at the Consulate General in New York City, USA, stating, "It has been 33 years since I started my public service career, but the diplomatic infrastructure has not changed at all," and emphasized, "We must boldly increase Korea's diplomatic personnel and budget."

Kim, a 34th Administrative Examination pass and former Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau at the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, expressed his frustrations over the past six months in New York as a 'non-diplomat Consul General' experiencing the poor diplomatic infrastructure firsthand. He pointed out, "The number of our diplomats has remained at around 2,000 for 30 years without any increase," adding, "While three Japanese diplomats handle certain tasks, only one Korean diplomat does the same. This situation prevents the accumulation of deep personal networks necessary for diplomacy." According to Kim, the strategy and goals are grand, but there are no salespeople on the ground to execute them.

Regarding the stagnation of Korea's diplomatic infrastructure despite over 30 years of national power growth, he first cited the closed-minded perception that overseas missions are luxuries or privileges. Evaluating that the human and material infrastructure of the New York Consulate General, a global economic and cultural hub, falls far short compared to other countries, he criticized, "Given Korea's characteristics, globalization is not a choice but a matter of survival, yet the budget for overseas missions is cut," and added, "It is also problematic that activities abroad are still treated as receiving special privileges."

He also pointed out that even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responding passively in this situation. Kim said, "The Foreign Minister must stake their position to expand diplomatic infrastructure," and raised his voice, "While it is important for the minister to articulate diplomatic strategies, above all, the diplomatic infrastructure must be expanded." He asserted, "Korean diplomats are highly capable," and warned, "The minister must not stifle the capabilities of diplomats." He further added, "At minimum, we need infrastructure at the level of Japan, which has three times the number of diplomats as Korea," and stressed that plans for budget and personnel expansion must be presented and pursued.

Consul General Kim also lamented the current infrastructure's inability to even easily handle civil complaints for compatriots. For example, unlike other countries such as Japan that have art hall-level facilities, the New York Consulate General does not even have a standalone building to hold reception events. There is only one main phone line for the civil affairs office. He said, "If there were five main phone lines, the number of walk-in visitors would decrease by one-third," and added, "The treatment of the staff handling civil affairs is also poor. It is not easy to increase personnel due to budget constraints."

Concerns about the shortage of diplomatic personnel were also previously expressed by Ambassador Hwang Jun-guk to the United Nations. After being elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council earlier this month, Ambassador Hwang told reporters that the immediate shortage of diplomats assigned to the Security Council was a problem and that an overall increase in personnel at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is necessary.

Additionally, Consul General Kim addressed the issue of visa issuance for Koreans in the U.S., stating, "Korean companies have recently made tremendous investments in the U.S., so we need to consider what we are receiving in return," and proposed a 'give-and-take' approach. He said, "The current employment visa quota is far below demand," and emphasized the need to resolve this issue.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.