1. The 2017 meeting of the chiefs of the Republic of Korea’s overseas diplomatic missions will take place from December 18 till 22, bringing together 182 mission chiefs, including the Ambassadors and the Consuls-General.

2. At the first such meeting since the launch of the current government, the mission chiefs will review the ROK government’s philosophy of people-centered statecraft and foreign policy direction and intensively seek specific ways to implement the policy tasks.

° The schedule of the event mainly includes presentations and discussions on ways to implement main policy tasks; discussions on ways to implement people-, national interests- and capability-centered diplomacy -- the three most significant topics of the meeting; communicative activities with people, such as volunteer work, dialogue with younger generations seeking presence overseas; and one-on-one meetings with entrepreneurs; visits to relevant government agencies and the venue of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games; and group discussions on diplomatic functions and regions of the world.

° In particular, a number of meetings among the mission chiefs and senior officials of the presidential office, the Presidential Committee on Job Creation and the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation have been arranged for in-depth discussions on such key policy tasks as establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula, boosting economy and creating jobs, as well as ways to carry them out.

3. With regard to “people-centered diplomacy,” one of the three major topics of the meeting, the mission chiefs will focus on ways to effectively safeguard rights and interests of the nationals and promote people-participated public diplomacy.

° In the plenary session on ways to safeguard the people’s rights and interests, the senior diplomats will look into the rapidly changing situation, where with 22 billion Koreans traveling overseas, the number of incidents and accidents involving overseas Koreans is on a sharp increase, and where indiscriminate terrorist attacks are launched on civilians across the world. They will then discuss measures that the government is taking or will take to better protect overseas Koreans, including the plan to set up a “center for overseas safety” to better respond to incidents and accidents overseas, and promotional activities to raise people’s safety awareness.

- For a communicative activity with people, the mission chiefs will visit the Consular Call Center on December 19 for first-hand experience on the ground where work is underway to protect overseas Koreans.

° The plenary session on “people-participated public diplomacy” will cover the direction of “diplomacy together with people,” one of the most significant diplomatic tasks of the current ROK government, as well as public diplomacy strategies, which call for communicating with people of the missions’ host countries and thereby enhancing their understanding of and trust in the ROK.

- On December 20, the mission chiefs will visit the venue of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and explore ways that they can support the efforts to efficiently promote PyeongChang event and make it successful Olympics that sends out a message of reconciliation and peace.

4. With respect to “national interests-centered diplomacy,” the mission heads will discuss from diverse perspectives ways to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and boost economy, the ROK’s two most significant diplomatic challenges.

° The chief of Cheong Wa Dae (presidential office)’s National Security Office will deliver a lecture, followed by a question-and-answer (Q&A) session with the senior diplomats. They will look into the graver-than-ever security situation on the Korean Peninsula amid North Korea’s rapid advances in its nuclear and missile capabilities and will seek to identify the challenges currently facing the Peninsula. In addition, they will discuss in depth the roles that the Foreign Ministry headquarters and the overseas missions can play in the efforts to induce the North to denuclearization talks and ultimately to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.

- The group discussions will focus on specific ways to coordinate with major countries toward a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue; to step up collaboration with the global community on North Korean issues; and to implement diplomacy in a way that uses the PyeongChang Winter Olympics as an opportunity to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.

° The session on ways to boost economy will feature a lecture by an economic aide to the President, followed by a Q&A session, during which the officials will share information on the ROK government’s philosophy of statecraft, which calls for “inclusive wealth-oriented economy” and “people-centered economy,” and will discuss the role that the overseas missions can play in the government’s efforts to implement its major economic policies, including those related to job creation as well as new northern and southern cooperation.

- Group discussions have also been arranged to specifically cover ways to fulfill economic diplomacy tasks, including supporting Korean companies’ operations overseas and responding to import bans imposed by foreign countries; supporting bids of Korean companies to land infrastructure projects overseas; creating job opportunities overseas; fostering an open economic environment for trade; and implementing climate change policy under the new climate regime.

- The mission chiefs will also attend a meeting with younger generations wishing to build presence overseas and one-on-one meetings with businesspeople in first-hand efforts to support young Koreans seeking job opportunities overseas and Korean companies wishing to enter foreign markets.

5. The session on “capability-centered diplomacy” will consist of a presentation and a discussion on the Foreign Ministry’s innovation efforts and progress thereof. During the session, the mission heads will learn more about the Foreign Ministry’s vision for innovation designed for the Ministry to be reborn as “a transparent and competent Foreign Ministry focused on the people and national interests”; and will discuss ways to innovate the overseas missions with the aim to strengthen their diplomatic capability.

6. The forthcoming meeting of the mission chiefs is expected to serve as a good opportunity for the Foreign Ministry headquarters and its overseas missions to review the direction of the Moon Jae-in government’s foreign policy and to explore ways to efficiently implement key policy tasks.


* unofficial translation