Heads of economic and foreign affairs ministries will hold a joint press conference for international media. This was arranged as concerns about South Korea have grown due to the turmoil in the financial and foreign exchange markets following the Dec. 3 martial law. It is unusual for heads of these two departments to gather for a foreign press conference.
According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 17th, Choi Sang-mok, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, and Cho Tae-yul, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, will hold a joint press conference for international media on the 18th. Both ministers have held solo briefings for foreign media as needed. It is extremely rare for them to conduct such a joint foreign press conference.
When the impeachment motion against President Park Geun-hye was passed by the National Assembly on Dec. 9, 2016, Yoo Il-ho, who was the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance at the time, held a solo briefing for major foreign media on the 11th. The joint teleconference by the Financial Services Commission, Financial Supervisory Service, Bank of Korea, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for foreign investors and international media during the 2010 Cheonan incident is cited as a somewhat similar precedent.
This joint briefing is interpreted as a resolve to quickly correct the diminished trust in the economic and foreign affairs sectors following the recent Dec. 3 martial law incident. This is because not only has the won-dollar exchange rate far exceeded the 1,400 won mark, but also there have been delays in diplomatic schedules, such as the postponements of the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) and the trilateral South Korea-U.S.-Japan public-private joint economic event.
The two ministers are expected to deliver a message of their commitment to managing international credibility and market stability during the briefing, emphasizing that foreign policy will remain consistent regardless of the domestic political situation. It is also seen as an opportunity to send messages related to the economic and foreign affairs sectors ahead of the second term of the Donald Trump U.S. administration early next year.