Kim Beomseok Likely to Attend G20 Instead of Choi Sangmok
Bilateral Meetings Unlikely Due to Diplomatic Protocol
Economic diplomacy setbacks of the South Korean government amid the impeachment political turmoil are prolonging. Although economic diplomacy among countries toward the new Donald Trump administration is heating up on the stage of the upcoming G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting scheduled for later this month, the South Korean government has yet to finalize even its attendees.
According to related ministries on the 3rd, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance plans to inform the hosts of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting, to be held on the 26th-27th in Cape Town, South Africa, that Choi Sang-mok, Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, will not attend. Instead of Acting Prime Minister Choi, who is responsible for overall state affairs as the head of the executive branch, Kim Beom-seok, the First Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, is expected to attend. A senior official from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said, "We will soon finalize whether Vice Minister Kim will attend and give the final confirmation to the hosts."
This G20 meeting is the first multilateral meeting of major economic and financial leaders following the inauguration of the Trump administration. It will gather not only finance ministers and central bank governors of G20 member countries but also representatives from major international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB). Notably, this meeting will also serve as the debut multilateral stage for Scott Bessent, the new Treasury Secretary of the Trump administration, who will lead Trump’s second-term economic policies.
Finance ministers of major countries are rushing to arrange bilateral talks with Secretary Bessent, the key figure behind Trump’s tariff policies, to build relationships. Each country is seeking to expand the scope of economic diplomacy by discussing sensitive economic issues such as exchange rates and trade and coordinating cooperation measures through face-to-face meetings with Secretary Bessent. A government official said, "The series of bilateral meetings, which will serve as introductory greetings, will highlight customized economic diplomacy tailored to each country." Japanese Finance Minister Kat? Katsunobu broke the ice on economic issue discussions during a video call with Secretary Bessent on the 29th of last month. Both sides agreed to closely cooperate on economic issues including foreign exchange and to continue discussions on specific issues and cooperation measures at the G20 Finance Ministers meeting.
If Acting Prime Minister Choi does not attend, it will be difficult to hold face-to-face meetings with finance ministers of other countries, including the South Korea-US bilateral finance ministers meeting, due to diplomatic protocol. With President Trump imposing tariff bombs on Canada, Mexico, and China, and these three countries immediately retaliating, triggering a global tariff war, economic diplomacy to shield South Korean companies and the economy from collateral damage is urgently needed. A Ministry of Strategy and Finance official said, "There is a consensus that Acting Prime Minister Choi should directly oversee the G20 meeting because external credibility is more important than anything amid political uncertainty, but realistically, it is a difficult matter." "Since the one-way flight schedule alone takes two days, attending the Cape Town meeting in South Africa requires setting aside an entire week, making it physically impossible," the official added.
Until last month, Acting Prime Minister Choi planned to personally visit the United States around President Trump’s inauguration to meet overseas investors starting with Wall Street and focus on managing the economic crisis. However, this became difficult after assuming the acting authority. The gap in economic diplomacy is being filled by private-sector figures appointed as special envoys. Following the emergency martial law situation, the government appointed an Ambassador for International Financial Cooperation and an Ambassador for International Investment Cooperation to manage external credibility. Ambassador Choi Jong-gu for International Financial Cooperation plans to meet senior officials from the three major global credit rating agencies?S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch?in Hong Kong and Singapore for four days starting on the 11th, and hold briefings on the Korean economy for senior executives of global asset management firms and investment banks (IBs).
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