Trade Day celebrated without president for 1st time since 2016

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, center, applauds with Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun, right, and Korea International Trade Association Chairman Yoon Jin-sik during the Trade Day celebration at COEX in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

Political turmoil following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief martial law declaration resulted in him becoming the second Korean leader since 2016 to miss the country's largest annual event for exporters in the trade-dependent nation.

His absence on Thursday came eight years after former President Park Geun-hye missed the 53rd Trade Day celebration, mired in a political scandal involving her close confidant, Choi Soon-sil, who was accused of interfering in state affairs. Just four days later, the National Assembly voted in favor of Park's impeachment.

At that time, Park became the third president to miss the annual ceremony, following the late former President Roh Tae-woo, who was absent from the 26th event in 1989 due to an overseas trip, and her father, the late former President Park Chung-hee, who did not attend the inaugural event in 1964.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Yoon was originally scheduled to attend this year’s event, as he had in the past, to encourage business leaders who helped Korea achieve the highest export growth during the first half of this year among the world’s 10 largest exporters, despite ongoing economic uncertainties.

Last year, the president notably introduced himself as Korea’s No. 1 salesperson to emphasize the government's commitment to providing comprehensive support for exporters.

President Yoon Suk Yeol applauds during a Trade Day event at COEX in Seoul in this Dec. 5, 2023, photo. Courtesy of presidential office

The decision to replace him with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was reportedly made at the last minute, following the political fallout from Yoon's six-hour martial law declaration, which lasted from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning.

Accompanied by Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun, the prime minister awarded the Orders of Industrial Service Merit and citations to businesspeople for their contribution to Korea’s exports and took photos with them with a solemn expression.

The congratulatory speech for the event was delivered under Han’s name, not Yoon’s.

Although the unexpected martial law issue has caused concerns among foreign buyers, the prime minister promised that the government will help exporters “spread their wings” in the global market.

"Building on our strong alliance, the government will manage the trade environment with the incoming U.S. administration," he said. "In particular, we will leverage the APEC Summit in Gyeongju next year to showcase Korean companies to the world."

However, the incumbent U.S. administration has expressed concerns about Korea’s political situation, describing Yoon’s recent decision as “badly misjudged,” “deeply problematic” and “illegitimate.”

Additionally, the Swedish prime minister and senior foreign government officials canceled their prescheduled visits to Seoul, as travel alerts for Korea were issued in multiple countries.

It also remains uncertain whether the Yoon administration will be able to prepare for the APEC meeting properly, given that its ministers offered to resign and the opposition bloc has been trying to impeach the president.

Without responding to such concerns, Han urged businesses to team up with the government to make Korea one of the world’s five largest exporters.

“I hope this event will serve as a platform for shaping resolutions for the next 60 years,” he said.

Korea designated Nov. 30 as Export Day in 1964 to commemorate its achievement of $100 million in annual outbound shipments and renamed the day as Trade Day in 1990.

Since a year after Korea became the ninth country in the world to achieve $1 trillion in annual trade volume on Dec. 5, 2011, the Korea International Trade Association has celebrated Trade Day on Dec. 5 every year.

This year, Kia won the $25 billion Tower of Export.

Amid the ongoing attempt to oust Yoon, 77 awardees received presidential citations.