Kim Beom-seok to Attend G20 Finance Ministers Meeting, Replacing Choi Sang-mok

by Jo Youjin

Published 23 Feb.2025 12:07(KST)

Departure to Cape Town, South Africa on the 24th

Kim Beom-seok, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is speaking about recent economic issues at the Economic Vice Ministers' Meeting and Price-related Vice Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 12th. 2025.2.12 Photo by Jo Yong-jun

Kim Beom-seok, First Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, will attend the G20 Finance Ministers' Meeting, a major international multilateral diplomatic stage, on behalf of Choi Sang-mok, Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance.

On the 23rd, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced that Vice Minister Kim will depart on the 24th to attend the G20 Finance Ministers' Meeting held in Cape Town, South Africa. Acting Prime Minister Choi, who is responsible for overall state affairs as the head of the executive branch, decided not to attend in order to focus on domestic issues.

This G20 meeting is the first multilateral meeting of major economic and financial leaders since the inauguration of the new U.S. administration under Donald Trump, but it has lost some luster as major countries including the U.S. have declared their absence.

Scott Bessent, the first Treasury Secretary of the Trump administration, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on the 19th (local time), stating, "Due to matters that need to be handled in Washington, another senior official will attend the G20," indicating his intention not to attend.

This year’s chair country is South Africa, and the meeting will be held under the slogan of 'Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,' consisting of a total of seven sessions discussing cooperation measures for various global risks.

The sessions are composed of world economy, international financial system, infrastructure, international taxation, fiscal health, financial sector issues, and sustainable finance.

On the first day, the 26th, Vice Minister Kim will propose ways to enhance economic soundness and dynamism through building sustainable fundamentals and bold structural reforms, based on recent Korean cases in response to global economic risks.

He will also emphasize the importance of securing the sustainability and resilience of the international financial system and present key tasks considering the global economic and financial environment.

On the following day, the 27th, he plans to emphasize the need for continuous international tax cooperation and support discussions on enhancing the capacity of developing countries for advanced tax policy and administration.

Taking this opportunity to attend the meeting, Vice Minister Kim plans to pursue bilateral talks with key figures from Germany, Canada, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and others.