[Inside Chodong]Frequent Presidential Overseas Trips, Time for a Thorough Review

President Yoon Suk-yeol has embarked on his final overseas trip of the year. Despite the political circles and public voices questioning the 'effectiveness of the trip,' the burden on the president and his aides, who are setting out on this trip just over ten days after the Expo defeat, is heavier than ever. A senior official who recently worked at the Presidential Office also stated, "The president's diplomatic activities to attract investment cannot be immediately converted into economic benefits," but hinted at the need for change by adding, "(Future trips) can be more specifically tailored to their objectives."

The 'trip risk' label that clung to the early days of his presidency has disappeared. Although incidents and accidents occurred during each trip and approval ratings consistently declined upon return, the public's expectations have grown as substantial benefits were secured in summit diplomacy with the US, Japan, and the Middle East Big Three (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar).

This is where the aides' concerns begin. If the president's volatile diplomacy focuses solely on short-term 'economic benefits,' it will be difficult to establish a so-called 'global chain' for future generations. This is reflected in the analysis by Choi Sang-mok, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance nominee who served as the presidential office's economic chief: "Domestically, people might say, 'Why are you leisurely going on trips?' but once you go abroad, it's a battlefield. In the past, the general atmosphere was that companies would 'export on their own, so the government should not interfere,' but now that has completely changed."

However, the president's 'charge forward' style of overseas trips needs refinement. President Yoon calls himself a 'talking machine,' and a key aide emphasized before the UN General Assembly visit in September, "No leader in the past 100 years of diplomatic history has held more than 60 bilateral meetings in a month," but the result was truly dismal. The opposition's united criticism, comparing with the previous Moon Jae-in administration and pointing out the 57.8 billion won cost of overseas trips as superficial, is now understandable.

While it is limiting to interpret dozens of overseas trips since the president's inauguration solely as an 'Expo defeat,' it is necessary to check whether the 'value diplomacy' President Yoon has repeated thousands of times is heading in the right direction. If the aides supporting the president and all institutions conducting diplomatic negotiations, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hold back and remain cautious, second and third diplomatic disasters like the Expo will inevitably recur.

It is also worth noting that in recent polls, President Yoon's 'diplomacy' issue ranked as the second highest reason for negative evaluations after 'economy, livelihood, and inflation.' There is concern that the public's distrust in President Yoon's diplomatic skills could potentially extend to the overall governance of the Yoon administration.

Some of the conglomerate heads who were summoned to a tteokbokki meeting in Busan last week are already causing a stir by accompanying this trip as well. These individuals, who must visit domestic and international sites and review thousands of business plans at the end and beginning of the year, likely feel burdened by being treated as the president's 'marbles in his pocket.'

The state visit to the Netherlands, which will last three nights and five days starting today, is expected to be a new turning point for the Yoon administration's 'sales diplomacy' as it prepares for its third year in power. This trip is undertaken while leaving behind the extreme budget standoff, the cabinet reshuffle, the confirmation hearings for the newly appointed chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, and even the special prosecutor investigation into the president's wife. The political circles and the public will evaluate the outcomes that the president, who emphasized "our survival is at stake" by pointing to the semiconductor industry, more critically than ever.