Foreign ministry`s favoritism

During a season of personnel reshuffle, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs becomes as noisy as the National Policy Agency. Diplomats say that they get nervous about personnel changes because the reshuffles determine what country they would be assigned to for the next three years at most. Some diplomats leave without their family members, while some others are unexpectedly assigned to foreign countries that they do not prefer at such sensitive times as critical moments in their children`s education. They are tempted to take advantage of their connections because the first foreign missions they are assigned to can affect the rest of their careers as diplomats. Nearly 55 percent of 2,189 staff members of the foreign ministry work at foreign missions.

Those who get assigned to posts in Washington, Beijing and Tokyo have higher chances of getting ahead of their peers, as their senior diplomats who are heads of foreign missions or hold key posts after taking similar career courses can support them. The "sense of family" among diplomats who spent years together is beyond imagination.

Add school backgrounds, and you have super-strong connection. During the Lee Myung-bak administration, diplomats who graduated from Seoul High School boasted bonds stronger than those with other factions of school or regional connections. As Seoul High School graduates took key posts at the ministry, including the position of minister, vice minister and ambassador to the U.S., ministry officials called the connection "Seoul Land" after the name of an amusement park on the outskirts of Seoul. Under the current administration, the ministry is dominated by officials who graduated from Gyeonggi High School. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kyou-hyun, Ambassador to the U.S. Ahn Ho-youn, Ambassador to the United Nations Oh Joon, and Cho Tae-yong, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, are all graduates from the same high school. Of course, their school background was not the only thing that got them to the positions.

Ryu Gwang-cheol, the South Korean Ambassador in Zimbabwe who served as a diplomat for 32 years, claimed in his recently published book that the foreign ministry is "an organization that turns smart people into idiots," harshly criticizing the ministry`s favoritism. Although he sounds like a brave whistleblower, his claims are not entirely convincing as he made them just months before his retirement. Some people say that while many diplomats end their career as diplomats without even taking an ambassadorial post, he is lucky enough to serve as an ambassador twice even though he was assigned to countries not favored by many others.