| Agency Name: | Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| Nativename A: | 외교부 外交部 |
| Nativename R: | Oegyobu |
| Formed: | 17 July 1948 |
| Jurisdiction: | Government of South Korea |
| Headquarters: | 60, Sajik-ro 8-gil Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-787, South Korea |
| Budget: | KR₩1,520 billion (about US$646 million) (2010)[1] |
| Preceding1: | Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1948-1998) |
| Preceding2: | Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (1998-2013) |
| Minister1 Name: | Cho Tae-yul |
| Deputyminister1 Name: | Kim Hong-kyun, 1st Vice Minister - Bilateral Diplomacy |
| Deputyminister2 Name: | , 2nd Vice Minister - Multilateral Diplomacy |
| Parent Department: | State Council of South Korea |
| Website: | Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs (English) |
South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA;) is in charge of the country's foreign relations, as well as handling matters related to overseas Korean nationals. It was established on 17 July 1948.
Its main office is located in the MOFA Building in Jongno District, Seoul.[2] The ministry previously had its headquarters in a facility in Doryeom-dong in Jongno District.[3]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was created in 1948 following the Government Organisation Law under the Rhee Syng-man administration.[4] It undertook matters of foreign policy, protection of overseas Korean nationals, international economy, treaties, diplomacy and the assessment of international and overseas public relations.[5] The top priority for the Ministry was initially to focus on the “international recognition of the new Korean government as the only legitimate one on the Korean peninsula”. Shortly after the Ministry was established, overseas missions in the United States, the United Kingdom and France were set up.
In 1963 the Educational Institute of Foreign Service Officers was established to further educate foreign public officials and improve their work efficiency.[6] In 1965 the Educational institute became the Research Institute of Foreign Affairs. In December, 1976 the Research Institute was reorganised again to become the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Security. In 2012, this institution developed into the Korea National Diplomatic Academy and has the largest research and training institution of its kind within South Korea.
In 1998, the ministry's name was changed to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT, 외교통상부), and it was given jurisdiction over external trade.[7] In 2013, it reverted to its earlier name of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following Park Geun-hye’s reorganisation plan, and the responsibility for trade matters was handed over to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, which was renamed the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE).[8] Due to this change, Office of the Minister for Trade was also relocated to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.[9]
The minister is supported by two vice-ministers, vice-ministerial-level chancellor of Korea National Diplomatic Academy and Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs.
See main article: Minister for Foreign Affairs (South Korea).
| Portrait | Name | Term of office | President | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
| 1 | Jang Taek-sang Korean: 장택상<br />張澤相 | 15 August 1948 | 24 December 1948 | Syngman Rhee | ||
| 2 | Lim Ben C. Korean: 임병직<br />林炳稷 | 25 December 1948 | 15 April 1951 | |||
| 3 | Byun Young-tae Korean: 변영태<br />卞榮泰 | 16 April 1951 | 28 July 1955 | |||
| 4 | Cho Chung-whan Korean: 조정환<br />曺正煥 | 29 July 1955 | 21 December 1959 | |||
| — | Choi Kyu-hah Korean: 최규하<br />崔圭夏 | 22 December 1959 | 24 April 1960 | |||
| 5 | Her Chung Korean: 허정<br />許政 | 25 April 1960 | 19 August 1960 | Yun Bo-seon | ||
| 6 | Korean: 정일형<br />鄭一亨 | 23 August 1960 | 20 May 1961 | |||
| 7 | Kim Hong-il Korean: 김홍일<br />金弘壹 | 21 May 1961 | 21 July 1961 | |||
| 8 | Song Yo-chan Korean: 송요찬<br />宋堯讚 | 22 July 1961 | 10 October 1961 | |||
| 9 | Choi Duk-shin Korean: 최덕신<br />崔德新 | 11 October 1961 | 15 March 1963 | |||
Park Chung Hee | ||||||
| 10 | Kim Yong-shik Korean: 김용식<br />金溶植 | 16 March 1963 | 16 December 1963 | |||
| 11 | Chung Il-kwon Korean: 정일권<br />丁一權 | 17 December 1963 | 24 July 1964 | Park Chung Hee | ||
| 12 | Korean: 이동원<br />李東元 | 25 July 1964 | 26 December 1966 | |||
| (11) | Chung Il-kwon Korean: 정일권<br />丁一權 | 27 December 1966 | 29 June 1967 | |||
| 13 | Choi Kyu-hah Korean: 최규하<br />崔圭夏 | 30 June 1967 | 3 June 1971 | |||
| (10) | Kim Yong-shik Korean: 김용식<br />金溶植 | 4 June 1971 | 2 December 1973 | |||
| 14 | Korean: 김동조<br />金東祚 | 3 December 1973 | 18 December 1975 | |||
| 15 | Park Dong-jin Korean: 박동진<br />朴東鎭 | 19 December 1975 | 1 September 1980 | |||
Choi Kyu-hah | ||||||
| 16 | Lho Shin-yong Korean: 노신영<br />盧信永 | 2 September 1980 | 1 June 1982 | Chun Doo-hwan | ||
| 17 | Lee Bum-suk Korean: 이범석<br />李範錫 | 2 June 1982 | 9 October 1983 | |||
| 18 | Korean: 이원경<br />李源京 | 15 October 1983 | 26 August 1986 | |||
| 19 | Korean: 최광수<br />崔侊洙 | 26 August 1986 | 5 December 1988 | |||
Roh Tae-woo | ||||||
| 20 | Korean: 최호중<br />崔浩中 | 5 December 1988 | 27 December 1990 | |||
| 21 | Lee Sang-ock Korean: 이상옥<br />李相玉 | 27 December 1990 | 26 February 1993 | |||
| 22 | Han Sung-joo Korean: 한승주<br />韓昇洲 | 26 February 1993 | 24 December 1994 | Kim Young-sam | ||
| 23 | Korean: 공로명<br />孔魯明 | 24 December 1994 | 7 November 1996 | |||
| 24 | Korean: 유종하<br />柳宗夏 | 7 November 1996 | 3 March 1998 | |||
| 25 | Korean: 박정수<br />朴定洙 | 3 March 1998 | 4 August 1998 | Kim Dae-jung | ||
| 26 | Hong Soon-young Korean: 홍순영<br />洪淳瑛 | 4 August 1998 | 14 January 2000 | |||
| 27 | Korean: 이정빈<br />李廷彬 | 14 January 2000 | 26 March 2001 | |||
| 28 | Han Seung-soo Korean: 한승수<br />韓昇洙 | 26 March 2001 | 4 February 2002 | |||
| 29 | Korean: 최성홍<br />崔成泓 | 4 February 2002 | 27 February 2003 | |||
| 30 | Yoon Young-kwan Korean: 윤영관<br />尹永寬 | 27 February 2003 | 17 January 2004 | Roh Moo-hyun | ||
| 31 | Ban Ki-moon Korean: 반기문<br />潘基文 | 17 January 2004 | 10 November 2006 | |||
| 32 | Song Min-soon Korean: 송민순<br />宋旻淳 | 10 November 2006 | 29 February 2008 | |||
| 33 | Yu Myung-hwan Korean: 유명환<br />柳明桓 | 29 February 2008 | 4 September 2010 | Lee Myung-bak | ||
| 34 | Kim Sung-hwan Korean: 김성환<br />金星煥 | 8 October 2010 | 11 March 2013 | |||
| 35 | Yun Byung-se Korean: 윤병세<br />尹炳世 | 11 March 2013 | 18 June 2017 | Park Geun-hye | ||
| 36 | Kang Kyung-wha Korean: 강경화<br />康京和 | 18 June 2017 | 8 February 2021 | Moon Jae-in | ||
| 37 | Chung Eui-yong Korean: 정의용<br />鄭義溶 | 9 February 2021 | 12 May 2022 | |||
| 38 | Park Jin Korean: 박진<br />朴振 | 12 May 2022 | 10 January 2024 | Yoon Suk-yeol | ||
| 39 | Cho Tae-yul Korean: 조태열<br />趙兌烈 | 11 January 2024 | incumbent | |||
The South Korean MoFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) is involved in creating environmental policies and working with countries around the world to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs). As such they are hosting the P4G Seoul Summit in late May 2021. The event will be done online due to the COVID-19 crisis, and will look into improving the current climate change situation. The summit will look into improving the global public-private cooperation.[10] The foreign minister Chung Eui-yong is particularly involved in this initiative as this has a significant impact on the relationship between the ROK and other countries such as the US and Denmark.[11]
June 2015 saw South Korea publish its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), an initiative by which countries focus on improving their environmental goals. The country set the aim of lowering emissions by 37% by 2030. As well as this, South Korea has participated in many initiatives to lower their carbon footprint such as the COP21 in Paris, ratifying the document in December 2015.[12] Korea has taken a ‘green growth’ approach to climate change but despite these efforts there was actually an increase in coal usage over the past decade. Predictions have shown that Korea is not likely to reach the set targets.[13] The MoFA, however, has been in close contact with Denmark to work together on their Green Growth Alliance (2011) in an attempt to make the P4G Seoul Summit a success.[14]