Diplomacy comes from national power, and national power comes from diplomacy. Just think of Korea’s strained relationship with Japan. Two former sex slaves to the Japanese military, while protesting Seoul’s inability and insincerity in handling the “comfort women” issue Wednesday, told Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan that they have done “nothing wrong except for being born as Joseon’s daughters.” A day before, Kim’s Japanese counterpart effectively said Tokyo would take issue with Korean measures to enhance its sovereignty on the Dok-do islets. It is also true the smaller a country is ― at least compared with its neighbors ― the more important its diplomacy becomes. Seoul should ease tension on the peninsula by dissuading Pyongyang from its nuclear ambitions. The nation also ought to maintain a proper balance between its blood ally the United States and a resurgent China. Is the foreign ministry able ― or even ready ― to tackle these gargantuan tasks? The answer is distressingly negative, given the seemingly unending series of scandals in and outside of the ministry. A latest case in point is a “diamond scandal,” in which the ministry’s ambassador for energy and resources and his aides and relatives made handsome personal gains by helping to manipulate the stock prices of a company involved in diamond mining in Cameroon. The focus of media and prosecutorial attention is on “higher figures,” meaning real power brokers who pulled the strings behind the diplomat. Yet there are also allegations the ministry also lobbied to cover up or play down the scandal in the initial stage, despite Kim’s strong denial. He stressed it was his ministry that first requested state auditors to investigate but what surprised the public was the senior diplomat’s involvement in the ugly financial crimes. As glaring as this abuse of position is, it is neither the first nor even the most shocking episode revealing Korean diplomats’ poor ethics and loose discipline. Consuls in China were found to have had improper relationships with a local woman in egregious visa-related irregularities; an ambassador returning from Cote d’Ivoire smuggled ivory goods; and Kim’s predecessor had to leave the post in disgrace after the media took issue with the “special” hiring of his daughter, which later proved to be a “normal” practice among top diplomats. Their performances are not very satisfactory, either. An English test conducted last year showed more than half of ministry employees between grades 5 and 7 received bottom marks, meaning they can’t conduct official duty in the language. There was not a single diplomat who could speak the local language at 26 foreign missions. Given the importance of and high popular expectations of the ministry’s role, however, Korea can ill afford to waste any more time in completely overhauling the diplomatic headquarters.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2012/01/137_103575.html