Local staff act as the faces of foreign embassies in Korea

Rew Ji-sun, a long-time local staff member at the South African Embassy here, helped others set up for the monthly club meeting as her elementary school aged daughter drew in her coloring book.

The Embassy Staff Club has been meeting monthly like this for most of its 24-year history with members often bringing their kids to meetings.

Local staff like Rew comprise a crucial contingent in every one of the more than 110 foreign diplomatic missions here in South Korea.

The reason is simple: The Korean language and culture are formidable to non-Koreans. Most of the embassy staff is therefore hired from among locals.

“We are a crucial gateway for envoys, especially new diplomats who many times are coming here to South Korea for the very first time in their life,” said Choi Hyun-kyung, assistant to the Qatari ambassador to South Korea and who has nearly 30 years of embassy experience.

The ESC meeting was held at Lotte Hotel on Monday, with about 50 embassy staffers and their families and friends gathering together to hear a lecture by painter Cha Myung-hae, nibble on pizza and pretzels and other snacks and, in general, just catch up on each other’s lives.

Choi said the club began in March 1991 and was born out of the friendship and sense of esprit de corps local staff felt, due to the “common environment of our work.”

Intimate relationships have developed among club members. Many of them have known each other for a decade or more.

The ESC has had six club presidents in its history. A unique aspect of embassy staff work is its high retention rate. Choi was the ESC’s fourth and longest-serving club president.

Kim Jeong-sook, a local official at the Gabonese Embassy, is the club’s current president. She plans meetings and keeps members up to speed on the club’s activities.

The embassies sees ambassadors and diplomats come and go, but the local staff workers remain. Many of them have stayed on with a single embassy for 10, 15, sometimes even 20 years or more.

“We are a crucial gateway for envoys, especially new diplomats who many times are coming here to South Korea for the very first time in their life,” Choi said.

Other club presidents included Lee Sook-ki, staff at the Oman Embassy, who served a two-year term as the club’s first president in 1991-1993.

Cho In-ja, local staff at the Mexican Embassy, was the club’s second president in 1993 and Park Mi-jeong, at the Portuguese Embassy, was president from 1995-1997.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)