Last modified: 2014-10-18 by zoltán horváth
Keywords: south korea | ministry of foreign affars | ministry of foreign affars and trade | ying yang | mofat | mofa |
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![[flag of the Ministry of Foreign Affaris and Trade]](../images/k/kr_mofa.gif)
image by Randy Young, 13 October 2014
Following up on the original message thread from October 2006, below is some
information about changes to the flag of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade.
Earlier today I was reading some articles online about discussions between the
US and South Korea regarding deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area
Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system in South Korea. The articles had
several photographs of South Korea's Ambassador Ahn Ho-young speaking in front
of two flags: the South Korean national flag and another one that I didn't
immediately recognize. The most noticeable difference was that the flag I saw in the articles had
the initials "MOFA" not "MOFAT."
Doing some research, I found the following information:
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established in 1948. In 1998, the
ministry's name was changed to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT,
외교통상부), and it was given jurisdiction over external trade. In 2013, it reverted
to its earlier name of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the responsibility for
trade matters was handed over to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, which was
renamed the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy."
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28South_Korea%29
Randy Young, 13 October 2014
Based on that information, I'm assuming that the Ministry's flag changed at the
same time as the name change in 2013. The current flag design is the same as the
previous, with the Ministry's seal displayed against a white field. The seal,
however, has been changed: the previous version said "Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade" and "MOFAT," while the current version says only "Ministry of
Foreign Affairs" and "MOFA."
Randy Young,
![[flag of the Ministry of Foreign Affaris and Trade]](../images/k/kr_mofat.gif)
image by Eugene Ipavec, 6 October 2006
The top prospect for next UN Secretary-General, South Korean Foreign
Minister Ban Ki-Moon, was shown on the BBC in a meeting in front of a
flag with a red/blue logo surrounded by black writing - not the national
flag, which was off to another side. The logo appears to be that of the
South Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Eugene Ipavec, 6 October 2006