1. With the inauguration of the new ROK government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold the first meeting of the public diplomacy committee on August 10 in accordance with the public diplomacy act, the ROK’s first-ever act in the area of public diplomacy (which entered into force on August 4, 2016).

o The public diplomacy committee, in charge of the overall management of government-wide public diplomacy, was established under the public diplomacy act, the ROK’s first-ever act in the area of public diplomacy, to examine and coordinate major public diplomacy policies.

o The committee, led by the Foreign Minister, consists of nine ex officio members (vice ministers of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Unification, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Office for Government Policy Coordination), five appointed members, and four members from the private sector.

2. Participants in the meeting will finalize the “first basic plan for the ROK’s public diplomacy (2017-2021),” and designate an agency which will carry out public diplomacy activities. They will also discuss ways to step up cooperation among central government agencies/between central government agencies and provincial governments, utilize the private sector’s public diplomacy capabilities, and increase public awareness and social consensus about public diplomacy.

o For the integrated management of public diplomacy programs lying scattered across different government agencies and provincial governments, and the strategic assignment of roles, the “five-year basic plan for public diplomacy” sets out guidelines for public diplomacy activities of actors in public diplomacy, including central government agencies, provincial governments, and overseas diplomatic missions, during the new ROK government’s five-year term.

o In the meeting, the Korea Foundation will be designated as an agency to conduct public diplomacy activities.

3. The Foreign Ministry will seek to accomplish one of the new ROK government’s policy tasks, “enhancing national interests through strategic public diplomacy,” by establishing policies for consistent and systematic public diplomacy and devising concrete measures to implement them through the public diplomacy committee.


* unofficial translation