Ministries tangle over control of the trade department

Economy

Published: 24 Mar. 2022, 17:47 Updated: 24 Mar. 2022, 19:38

Ministries tangle over control of the trade department

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy's headquarters in Sejong. [YONHAP]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy are clashing over who should run the trade department under the soon-to-be-inaugurated administration.

On Thursday, the ministries held a meeting with the transition team of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol. Other government offices, including the Finance Ministry, joined.

While details of the meeting have not been disclosed, reports indicate that the Foreign Ministry has raised the question of control over the trade department.

The trade department was placed under the Industry Ministry in 2013 after Park Geun-hye took office. It has remained there since.

Although President Moon Jae-in considered moving the trade department to the Foreign Ministry in 2017, his administration never followed through.

The Foreign Ministry is reported to be arguing that the role of diplomacy has significantly increased in recent years as trade is becoming a national security matter, especially as the global order has been changing rapidly with heightening East-West tensions.

Major high-tech products, such as semiconductors, with a strong connection to national security have become critical issues.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is arguing that the trade job should remain where it is, citing 10 years of experience and a close connection to Korea's industrial policy.

"The Foreign Ministry is strongly pushing" for the return of the trade department, said an official at the Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry. "The trade department should remain where it is."

"Even in the U.S., the trade departments are under the Commerce Department and not the State Department."

The official stressed that as trade is closely connected with industry it should remain with the current department.

The current trade department is also arguing that making changes to the organization at such a critical time will only have a negative effect.

The Korean government has been aggressively working on numerous trade deals.

In addition to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a multilateral free trade deal with 15 member countries including China and Japan that went into effect on Feb. 1, Korea is applying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, led by Japan, next month.

Other trade agreements the government is working on include those with Mexico and Egypt.

Negotiations with Mexico have been suspended for 14 years.

Korea is also working to join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, pushed by U.S. President Joe Biden.

A supplementary budget to support small business owners may also be a subject of discussion for the transition team.

President-elect Yoon has promised that the new government with the support of the People Power Party will push for another supplementary budget, as many businesses have suffered from Covid-19 social distancing measures.

On Wednesday, the Financial Services Commission announced that servicing of loans to small businesses will be suspended for another six months.

The decision came a day after the FSC held a meeting with the transition team, which made the request.

The loan-payment suspension has been extended every six months since it was first implemented in April 2020.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]