… and water is wet.
From North Korea, China, Japan and the U.S., the ROK’s diplomacy corp haven’t made any “stellar” contributions to the nation’s relationship with its neighbors. In yesterday’s Chosun Ilbo, Lee Ha-won, the Chosun Ilbo’s correspondent in Washington blamed Korea’s rigid system of promotion as the cause for its inability to have able diplomats.
Per the article:
… we must introduce the concept of competition for our diplomats as well and reform personnel management in a way to pick out creative and resourceful diplomats without being bound by the seniority system.
So long as personnel management is strictly based on the years that have passed since a diplomat’s civil service exam, we will not be able to pick “star diplomats” like chief U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill, former U.S. Middle East peace negotiator Dennis Ross, and former Bosnia peace negotiator Richard Holbrooke. The case of the Korean-American diplomat Sung Kim, who won extraordinarily speedy promotion from first secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul just four years ago to director of the Office of Korean Affairs at the State Department and U.S. special envoy on North Korean affairs is totally unimaginable in our Foreign Ministry.
American diplomats do not have the same sense of seniority as we do. And many U.S. diplomats, if weeded out in competition, end up retiring at the level of minister in an embassy without ever becoming ambassadors.
As bad as South Korea’s diplomatic corp may be, at least it’s not as bad as this HUGE miscalculation.
In other Korean human resource related news, the KT ponders if Korea’s habit of having the word’s most entrenched system of face tim… er I mean logging long hours at the office is good for nurturing creativity.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I like how they try to back-pedal on why people work so much over time:
“Time spent outside of work for many employees is limited to passive activities, including watching TV or movies and playing online games.”
Heaven knows Americans with free-time never do that [rolls eyes]
All of Korea needs a long week-end away from itself, then return to a 40-hour work-week. If that were possible, a good chunk of the silly stupidity that happens there just might disappear. But pigs’ll fly first, too bad.
Why blame the diplomats? How can one expect to have “diplomacy” when the people represented are so unforgiving as this journalist here?
I hear much criticism about Korea’s rampant nepotism, but it seems to me that the seniority system is much more damaging. After all, even though nepotism is unfair, it’s not necessarily counter-productive. A person brought into an organization because of a personal relationship with a member has plenty of incentive to perform well (though this obviously leaves talented people without such connections out in the cold).
But the seniority system . . . don’t see how that does any good. I often see a wave a quiet depression sweep over a lot of Koreans in their late twenties, shortly after they finally get a job. I’ve theorized that it comes from the realization that for the rest of their lives, no matter how hard they work or how much they accomplish for the company, they’re going to have to kowtow to some moron at the desk next to them, because that moron is eight months older. That’s gotta suck.
Andy-in-japan: I’ve been working in the tourism/convention industry in Seoul for the last couple of years, and I’ve repeated something similar to ANYONE who would listen:
Korea is not competitive as a tourism destination first and foremost because it’s not a fun place. How do we make Korea fun? First step: Koreans must have more fun.
Take a look at Haeundae Beach after the third week of August. Deserted. You can buy an ice coffee from one of those ajumahs with a tray on her head – that’s it. Of course vendors and suppliers don’t maintain a year-round presence at interesting tourist destinations, because there just aren’t any customers.
Koreans have fun during an acceptable two week period in August, weather permitting.
The best thing the government could do to spur tourism is to encourage all companies to give their employees two long weekends, to be used at random times, where they must “get outta town” and do something fun. That would give the tourist destinations reason to keep their stuff open year round.
The added benefit is a population who might be just a little bit happier.
#4 What really is there to see in Korea apart from a few temples and a couple of palaces?
I’ve been all over Asia and Korea is the least fun as far tourism (and living for that matter) goes. Japan would be next, but I guess it’s all subjective.
Anyway, Korea really doesn’t have much. Time magazine didn’t even mention S. Korea as a prime tourist spot a few years ago. There’s a reason for it.
#5 A little effort and creativity go a long way. In 1998, at the first Boryong Mud Festival, it was basically two buckets of mud beside the boardwalk. You only saw a handful of foreigners walking around “muddied”. Now it’s a two week long drunken mud orgy.
One reason it’s so successful is because of the pent-up need for parties like this.
More tourist destinations in Korea won’t help – it’s all about making the most of what’s here… year round.
Work hard and you’re lucky to get a thank you. Shoeshine the bosses, it’s their ego and not yours that gets the benefit. Network well with your peers, you are the cool friendly guy. With a one script play for promotion based on desk time, that beats the life out of everyone who enters the workforce, it helps explain why productivity is so damn low around here.
Korea being a tourist destination was already discussed here. Nothing to see, not very attractive food, etc…
The seniority issue, though, is a bigger problem. It will never disappear. Already spoke to the young guys? One of them told me that he can’t wait to be promoted, so others will bow to him. It’s the circle of (Korean) life…
What I know about diplomacy, you could probably write on the back of a matchbox.
What I do know however is that it is important to have powerful friends and allies and not to annoy powerful neighbours.
Are the diplomats doing a good job?
Does Korea have powerful friends? yes/no
How is its relationship with its neighbours? good/bad
“Are the diplomats doing a good job?”
Even if they were, the local populace goes batsh*t crazy over minor issues and frivolous offences and forces diplomats to push these issues and make them look foolish. If they don’t, they get threatened with recall/ousting ala the Korean ambassador to the US during the cows gone wild hysteria.
“Does Korea have powerful friends?”
Seems like Korea is down to one — the US — and they have done serious, SERIOUS, damage to that friendship in the last 10+ years. The US-Japan alliance has been strengthening because Washington has been feeling the hate from Korea for a while now. If they don’t straighten up, they won’t have any friends left.
“How is its relationship with its neighbours?”
- North Korea sees the South as its ‘b*tch’ they can extort cash from any time they like. “Reconciliation” is a fantasy!
- Japan: awful. Don’t think Koreans will ever stop hating Japan enough to be sensible.
- China: several territorial disputes have gone on in recent times giving way to bad feelings. With China flexing its muscles now, I see it getting worse.
To answer, the situation is in the toilet right now. Korea really has to work to turn it around or they may be digging their own grave.
Koreans b*tch about it all the time, but the seniority system — not what you know and how well you work, but old you are & how long you have been there — still determines their position/authority. Yep, they say they hate it, but they aren’t doing a damn thing to end this system!
Also, as an underling, there is no incentive to do an excellent, creative job. If your work fails, the boss will blame you completely. If it is a success, the boss will take all the credit. They find it better just to be mediocre and bide their time until hopefully they get to be boss and just sit around and lord over everyone under them.
This way, no good work ever gets done.
Yet, they spend 10-14 hours a day “at work”!
One problem the Foreign ministry had during the last administration was the meddling by Roh in the domain of foreign affairs so that FA would say one thing and “his goofiness” would say something else. It was a very unprofessional relationship, at times, and was embarrassing.
“We experienced discord with America over the U.S. Forces Korea and other problems in the alliance, and over territorial claims to Dokdo and a fisheries agreement with Japan. We had a hard time with China over its Northeast Project, which aims at co-opting ancient Korean history. We still have a problem with Russia over the loan we gave it.”
Seriously, are these issues at all? The seniority system has nothing to do with diplomatic incompetence. The “issues” Korea faces can’t be solved by diplomatic prowess. Isn’t it more worthwhile to focus on welfare or the economy instead of “national pride”?
This situation is certainly not limited to the diplomatic corps.
Here’s what I see in the engineering field: In my case one of the chaebol companies is working on a construction project for us. The only criteria for promotion is time spent at the office. The really young engineers try to do a good job but it seems by the time they hit 30 they’ve given up on that since it doesn’t get them anywhere. So if you need something done, what I do is approach the younger engineers for the ideas and then try to sell it to the managers. Then something good might trickle down. Sometimes I feel like I should send them an invoice for ‘management consulting’ services.
They tell me that they ‘work’ until 9 PM or later, yet I never see emails come from them after 6 PM.
If the system does not reward good performance, you will end up with mediocrity.
Why do you think so many Korean young males are good at Starcraft and Wow?
Well, my own country has had its diplomatic foibles in the past. Joseph Kennedy, patriarch of the Kennedy clan was an utter disaster as the American ambassador to the Court of St. James’s, otherwise known the British Royal Court. In 1940, he once said that “democracy is finished here in Britain” or words of like effect.
With respect to age and seniority ruling in Korea, one must keep in mind that Korea implemented Confucianism is quite possibly its strictest form. I have also heard the state of Japanese science isn’t that great, mostly because younger scientists must kowtow to the older and more senior professors.
It sounds more like a lack of accountability than a lack of competition, and that appears to apply to SK politicians in general. The case in point is the election of 2MB. I cannot imagine the majority of the U.S. voters voting for an individual like 2MB for any substantial elective office in the U.S., because though the U.S. voters are well known for their general political indifference and ignorance, they do care about the character fitness of politicians (e.g., having a sense of ethics and guiding principles), and, on that score, 2MB would have been rejected by the U.S. voters if not at the party level. Then again, I do think that Koreans, for all their outward display of political and other sorts knowledge, are half-baked
idiots–generally speaking, of course.
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