Concerns grow over absence of Korean financial leaders at global meeting

Acting president overloaded with domestic affairs

By Yi Whan-woo

Acting President Choi Sang-mok, who is also the minister of economy and finance, will not attend this year’s first meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from G20 member nations, fueling concerns over Korea’s absent leadership on the global financial stage, according to experts, Monday.

The concerns have grown further as Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Rhee Chang-yong will also not join the meeting, which is scheduled for Wednesday to Thursday (local time) in Cape Town, South Africa.

Choi has been serving as the acting president since late December after the National Assembly passed motions to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol and also Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who had been acting president.

A finance ministry official said on condition of anonymity that Choi “opted not to join the meeting after judging the severity and priority of his tasks both domestically and internationally as the acting president.”

This explanation, according to economists, is regarded as an acknowledgment that Choi is overloaded with work and can’t focus on his original job of leading Korea’s economy.

“Choi’s absence suggests economic affairs have been pushed down by political, diplomatic and other issues in order of urgency,” Shin Se-don, a professor emeritus of economics at Sookmyung Women’s University, said.

He viewed this year’s G20 meeting is “especially crucial to learn about the global direction in financial and monetary policies in the middle of a turbulent change to decades of global order.”

The professor referred to the aggressive "America First" policy under U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, signs of crack between the U.S. and Europe on peace talks concerning Russia's three-year-long invasion of Ukraine and increased hostility in U.S.-China trade relations, among others.

“The G20 meeting is an ideal venue to get a sense of how to make a breakthrough against these global economic challenges, by mingling, talking and sharing thoughts with fellow participants,” Shin said. “And apparently Choi can’t spare time for such an important opportunity.”

Hanyang University economics professors Ha Joon-kyung voiced a similar concern, pointing out no Korean finance minister has skipped the G20 meeting since 2008.

“The top Korean fiscal policymakers' attending the meeting in a faithful and steadfast manner over nearly two decades indicates how seriously they considered the meeting, but that seems not to be the case for Choi,” Ha said.

Regarding the BOK governor, he decided to skip the G20 gathering because of a monetary policy meeting in Seoul on Tuesday. The BOK is considering whether to lower the policy rate by balancing out lackluster economic growth and rebounding inflation.

It takes about a day to fly from Korea to South Africa, meaning Rhee is likely to miss most of the G20 meeting by the time he arrives.

The BOK said Rhee will join the meeting of central bank governors from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) member nations. The meeting will be held in Cape Town during and after the G20 meeting, in accordance with a customary rule that it is hosted by a G20 host nation.

Some diplomatic sources speculated that the absence of Choi and Rhee from the G20 meeting is linked to the U.S. boycott of the gathering over tensions with South Africa.

The tensions began with Trump’s complaints over South Africa's land policy, which he viewed as “racial discrimination” against European descendants and decided to cut U.S. financial assistance to the country.