The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA; ) is a government agency of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. It 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 upright=1, Bosingak bell pavilion Jongno District () is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. It is the historic center of Seoul that contains Gyeongbokgung, the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty, and the Blue House, the for ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. The ministry previously had its headquarters in a facility in Doryeom-dong in Jongno District.

History

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was created in 1948 following the Government Organisation Law under the

Syngman Rhee Syngman Rhee (; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965), also known by his art name Unam (), was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisiona ...

administration. It undertook matters of foreign policy, protection of overseas Korean nationals, international economy, treaties, diplomacy and the assessment of international and overseas public relations. 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. 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.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (1998-2013)

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. 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). Due to this change, Office of the Minister for Trade was also relocated to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Organisation

The minister is supported by two vice-ministers, vice-ministerial-level chancellor of Korea National Diplomatic Academy, and Vice Minister for Strategy and Intelligence.

Affiliated organization

* **

Related organization

Korea-Africa Foundation The Korea-Africa Foundation () is a special corporation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea that was launched in 2018. Its purpose is to conduct long-term and comprehensive research and analysis on African countries and to promo ...

Korea International Cooperation Agency The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA, ) was established in 1991 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea as a governmental organization for Official Development Assistance (ODA). KOICA's goal is to enhance the effectivene ...

Korea Foundation The Korea Foundation (KF; ) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit public diplomacy organization established in 1991 to promote a better understanding of Korea and strengthen friendships in the international community. The foundation carries o ...

List of ministers

2021 P4G Seoul Summit

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. 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. 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. Korea has taken a ‘

green growth Green growth is a concept in economic theory and policymaking used to describe paths of economic growth that are environmentally sustainable. The term was coined in 2005 by the South Korean Rae Kwon Chung ( de), a director at UNESCAP. It is based ...

’ 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. 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.

References

External links

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of Foreign Affairs (South Korea) 1948 establishments in Korea

Foreign relations of South Korea

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

Jongno District South Korea, Foreign Affairs