1. The Foreign Ministry has drawn up and will submit to the National Assembly its budget bill for 2.2694 trillion won for the year 2018, up 2% from 2.224 trillion won of the year before.

2. In drawing up its budget plan for the year 2018, the Republic of Korea government seeks to restructure its expenditures in order to raise resources for welfare and job creation. The Foreign Ministry, taking an active part in such efforts of the government, will seek to secure its budget from the state coffers for the new government’s policy tasks and main projects, and will use it to do the following:

a. The Foreign Ministry will strengthen its capacity for a better protection of the Korean nationals overseas and for better consular services

- A 24/7 “center for overseas safety” will be run to remarkably better ensure the safety of the Korean nationals staying overseas.

- The Ministry will allow a larger number of its overseas missions to seek advice from legal experts on ways to better handle aftermaths of accidents and incidents involving Korean nationals abroad from their initial stages.

※ Legal advice on such matters will be available to 90 overseas missions in 2018, up from 70 in 2017.

- The Ministry will increase the number of assistants to consuls in charge of handling aftermaths of incidents and accidents as well as the number of visa-related assistants so that effective measures can be taken in response to incidents and accidents at their initial stages and better visa-related services will be available.

※ The number of assistants to consuls in charge of incidents and accidents: 54 in 2018 from 34 in 2017
※ The number of visa-related assistants: 105 in 2018 from 85 in 2017

b. The Foreign Ministry will set up a “center for public opinion-reflected diplomacy” and other platforms and reorganize existing ones in a bid to communicate more closely with the public and increase its participation regarding foreign policies.

※ 1.5 billion won is expected to be injected into building a system for public opinion-reflected diplomacy.

- The Foreign Ministry will implement strategic public diplomacy designed to lead foreign countries to have a correct understanding of the ROK and to win their support on the vision and foreign policy of the ROK government.

c. The Foreign Ministry will carry out development cooperation in a way that will help the ROK take on more responsibilities and a bigger role in the international community and that will create more jobs and serve other national interests.

- The Ministry will implement official development assistance (ODA) programs through cooperation with companies, thereby contributing to job creation in the private sector and other national interests.

※ Contribution to the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA): 645.6 billion won in 2018 from 630.4 billion won in 2017.

- The ROK, by increasing its contributions to the international community, will seek to take on a more active, responsible role as a middle power country in the international efforts to address global issues.

* Contributions to international organizations: 459.9 billion won in 2018 from 441.6 billion won in 2017

d. The Foreign Ministry will further expand its diplomatic infrastructure for a smooth implementation of diplomatic activities.

- The Ministry will increase the sizes of administrative staffs at its overseas missions to better meet the public needs for consular and other administrative services, and a more stable working environment will be created for members of administrative staffs.

※ In 2018, 130.2 billion won, up from 125.6 billion won in 2017, is expected to be spent to strengthen the capacity of members of administrative staffs at overseas missions.

- The Ministry will expand the infrastructure for its diplomatic information network in a bid to better share diplomatic information with other government agencies and to operate more smoothly the information system on consular services.

※ In 2018, 18.7 billion won, up from 18.2 billion won in 2017, is expected to be channeled into expanding the infrastructure of and running the diplomatic information network.

e. The Foreign Ministry will send out text messages regarding passport expiry to passport holders six months before their passport expiration dates in a bid to help them avoid any challenges that could be posed by the expiration of their passports.


* unofficial translation