Finance minister nominee vows to speed up trade diversification

Finance Minister nominee Choi Sang-mok speaks during a National Assembly hearing in Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

Finance Minister nominee Choi Sang-mok pledged, Tuesday, to speed up diversifying Korea’s trade partnerships with more nations as a likely unprecedented yearly trade deficit with China looms at the end of 2023.

“I will try to cope with structural changes in trade with China, and in that regard, will seek to explore and secure more trading partnerships,” he said during a National Assembly hearing in Yeouido, Seoul.

Choi’s remark came as main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) legislators lambasted him for a controversial remark he made concerning Korea-China trade ties in June 2022 when he was President Yoon Suk Yeol’s senior secretary for economic affairs.

He had said the era of an export boom with China is nearing its end and that “Korea needs to find alternative markets and diversify trade partners” as he spoke about Yoon’s participation in the NATO summit in Spain around that time.

“I am deeply concerned about the nominee now being considered for the financial ministerial post after stirring up the dispute,” DPK Rep. Seo Young-kyo said.

She noted China was displeased about Choi’s assessment of the future course of Korea-China trade relations.

She also noted the trade deficit with China has grown, amounting to $18 billion as of November.

The deficit is anticipated to grow as high as $20 billion by the end of the year. If so, it will be the first time that Korea’s trade balance with China will be in the red since they established bilateral ties 31 years ago.

“I can’t understand why the nominee, who is considered a man of prudence, bluntly provoked China,” said Rep. Park Kwang-on, also a DPK member.

The lawmaker asked Choi to keep updated when the nominee said Korea expanded partnerships with what he called the “Big 3” countries in the Middle East to complement trade with China. Choi did not specify the names of the countries.

Citing International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, DPK Rep. Yang Kyung-sook said Choi should be held partly responsible for Korea being ranked 200 out of 208 countries in terms of trade balance in the first half of 2023.

While Korea logged an overall trade surplus of $3.8 billion in November with rebounding exports, the country in the first half was struggling with a trade deficit totaling $26.4 billion.

Choi also vowed to prioritize policies aimed at stabilizing the people's livelihoods by tackling persistently high inflation and revitalizing the country’s economic growth potential through deregulation and advanced industries.