Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Cheong Wa Dae mixes up Saudi delegates on Facebook
This is a photo of Saudi petrochemical company Aramco President and CEO Amin H. Nasser when he accompanied Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Seoul from June 26 to 27. The caption mistakenly referred to him as Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al Falih and was corrected after Aramco filed a complaint. / Captured image from Cheong Wa Dae Facebook
By Yi Whan-woo
Mix-up adds to series of Moon government's diplomatic blunders
By Yi Whan-woo
Cheong Wa Dae mixed up two of the top Saudi Arabian delegates who accompanied Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Seoul this week.
The mix-up adds to a series of diplomatic gaffes and blunders under the Moon Jae-in administration. This includes referring to three Baltic states ― Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ― as Balkan countries, a story first reported by The Korea Times in March.
On its Facebook photo, June 26, Cheong Wa Dae mistakenly referred to Amin H. Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Arabia's state-owned petrochemical company Aramco, as the country's Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al Falih.
The photo shows Nasser giving a congratulatory speech at Hotel Shilla in Seoul, also June 26, about a recently-built refinery owned by S-Oil, a Korean petrochemical company with Aramco being its largest shareholder.
The caption read, “Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al Falih said Korea and Saudi Arabia are playing leading roles as members of the G20.”
It also read, “The minster expressed hope that the two countries join hands in the global market by capitalizing on their solid partnership.”
The celebration was held on the occasion of official visit of Crown Prince bin Salman to Korea from June 26 to 27.
President Moon Jae-in, Crown Prince bin Salman and other Saudi delegates joined the celebration.
Cheong Wa Dae reportedly received a complaint from Aramco June 27 and corrected the caption accordingly.
“The photo and caption were posted on Facebook around 6 p.m. on June 26. We got a call from Aramco the next morning around 9 a.m. and immediately corrected the mistake,” a presidential official told the media on condition of anonymity. “There was a mistake at the working level. We apologize for that.”
The Moon administration has been criticized repeatedly over diplomatic gaffes and blunders.
During his visit to Malaysia from March to 12 to 14, Moon greeted the audience with the phrase “Selamat Sore,” an expression more commonly used in Indonesia, when he held a joint press conference with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
The protocol team of Cheong Wa Dae took the blame for failing to prepare Moon properly.
On its website, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as Balkan states and corrected the error after it was reported by The Korea Times on March 22.
The ministry was also criticized for displaying a crumpled Korean flag during the first strategic dialogue between then-Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Spain's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Fernando Valenzuela at the ministry, April 4.