Ministry of Foreign Affairs And Trade - World of Women

Is the era of `the world of women` coming to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT)? The number of women who have passed the Foreign Service Examination (FSE) is increasing. The number has steadily increased since the mid 1990s, and 11 of 30 who have passed the exam were women this year, marking the sex ratio of 36.7 percent.

The diplomat has been perceived as a difficult career for women especially due to the service in the remote areas. An official of the MFAT said, ``With this trend, the `world of women` may unfold in the MFAT, like in the TV drama the `World of Women`.``

There was one woman who passed the 12th FSE in 1978. After years of absence, there was one woman who passed the FSE respectively in 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, and 1990. The number of women who passed the FSE began to increase to a great extent since 1997. 9 (20 percent) of 45 who passed the FSE were women in 1997, and 6 (30 percent) of 20 were women.

A total number of female diplomats is 64, including 56 who passed the FSE and 8 who have been specially appointed. 56 female diplomats include those who passed the FSE this year and the assistant junior officials (from the 5th ranking officials). Although the number of female diplomats is 5.5 percent of the total number of diplomats (1161), the outlook is that the ratio of female diplomats will increase based on the current trend.

Lee Ji-Yoon (24), who is undergoing the training after passing the FSE this year, said, ``Although I am concerned about marriage, it is not enough to break my desire to become a career diplomat.``

Although the increasing number of women, who have passed the FSE, is a natural phenomenon following the increase of women public officials, the number of female diplomat has increased because women are stronger in languages and women can prepare for the FSE without ceasing, unlike men who have to serve military.

As the number of female diplomats is increasing, the number of diplomat couple is increasing as well. Lee Byong-Do (31) and Kim Eun-Young (31), who started to work in the MFAT in the same year, 1994, are the 6th couple. They are to marry on August 19th. An official hinted that there is quite a number of couples who plan to marry.

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