Government Mulls a Trade Negotiation Commission

The government is considering launching a Trade Negotiation Commission and spinning off the trade negotiation headquarters as the commission’s executive bureau from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“The Government Innovation Committee is mulling the launching of a Trade Negotiation Committee and the spin off of the trade negotiation headquarters as its executive body,” a senior official said on April 22.

The new commission will be a coordination body designed to lead trade negotiations, develop, and determine policies. The government is considering the launching of it, following advice that policy efficiency should be improved by combining trade negotiation functions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and the Economy, and the Ministry of Commerce and Energy.

The commission will include full-time officials as well as part-time civilian employees.

The government is also mulling adopting an open-door hiring policy for its legations to hire more non-professional diplomats.

Asked whether the government will hire 30 percent of its legation heads from outside of the pool of diplomat officials, the senior official answered, “We have yet to decide about the ratio, but there is consensus about large-scale hiring outside of the pool.”

Seung-Ryun Kim srkim@donga.com