Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Korean embassies criticized for using foreign cars as diplomatic vehicles
Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz
By Lee Hae-rin
By Lee Hae-rin
Korean diplomatic officials overseas are facing criticism for spending taxpayers' money to buy foreign luxury cars for official use, despite repeated calls by lawmakers to use Korean-made vehicles.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has faced increased calls from the media and the National Assembly's budget committee to reduce spending by replacing foreign cars with Korean-made ones as diplomatic vehicles at embassies overseas.
Korean diplomatic offices abroad are obligated to prioritize domestic brands over foreign ones when purchasing embassy cars, as stated in the ministry's instructions on the management of diplomatic vehicles.
However, as of January this year, 80 percent, or 545 out of 681, diplomatic vehicles at Korean embassies overseas are domestic brands, and a quarter of the top diplomats still insist on riding luxury foreign cars, according to the ministry's 2021 diplomatic vehicle management report. The report was requested and distributed by main opposition People Power Party lawmaker Tae Yong-ho, who is a member of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee of the National Assembly.
The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the United Kingdom scored the lowest ratio of domestic brands among its diplomatic vehicles ― the embassy has one Hyundai, four Mercedes-Benz and one Volkswagen.
In May 2009, the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea's leading domestic car brands, including Hyundai and Kia, pledging it would use Korean-made vehicles for diplomatic missions and contribute to the global promotion and export of Korean cars.
However, the report shows that 11 out of 55 embassy cars purchased since 2020 are imported brands, which is in breach of the government's policy on diplomatic vehicle management.
“The ministry has failed to take follow-up measures to repeated criticism of lagging behind in the use of domestic vehicles for diplomatic use. These embassy cars are bought using taxes and diplomatic vehicle management must be done more efficiently and thoroughly,” Rep. Tae said.