Cho Sei-young, a retired diplomat who now serves as director of Dongseo University's Japan Center in Busan, speaks during the 2017 International Forum for Trilateral Cooperation held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul on April 18, 2017. / Courtesy of Cho Sei-young



'Government turned deaf ear to sex slavery victims' outcry'



By Kwak Yeon-soo



Inside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are two major "factions" ― the Washington and Japan schools ― depending on the career paths and foreign postings diplomats have taken since they joined the ministry.



Those who are fit for the Washington School meet two conditions ― they have had work experience in the North American Affairs Bureau handling the U.S. affairs and served at the Korea Embassy in Washington D.C.



The Japan School refers to a group of mid-career or senior diplomats who worked in Northeast Asia Division 1 dealing with Japanese affairs and have spent years in the Korean Embassy in Tokyo.



The two factions are the mainstream of the foreign ministry, but the Washington School has long been the real power.



Since 1990, Korea has had 16 foreign ministers and 11 of them were career diplomats. Seven out of the 11 foreign ministers were from the Washington School, whereas only one of them was from the Japan School.



"The domination of the Washington School in the top job of the ministry was something regrettable," retired diplomat Cho Sei-young recalled in his newly-released book, "Diplomacy, Untold Stories Behind the Scene."



Cho defined himself as part of the Japan School before his retirement in 2013 after serving years as deputy director-general of the Northeast Asia Division 1 at the foreign ministry. "I was posted in Japan three times and my last position was at the bureau," he told The Korea Times.



Between 1997-1999, he served as a presidential interpreter for two former Presidents, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung.



The cover of "Diplomacy: Untold Stories Behind the Scene"