In the past three years, four diplomats have left their positions without fulfilling their service obligations after receiving government-funded overseas training. Among them, two departed the Foreign Ministry less than a month after completing their training.
On September 5, Lee Gi-heon, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, revealed data from the Foreign Ministry indicating that a total of 334.1 million won has been recovered due to noncompliance with service obligations.
One diplomat, identified as A, underwent training in the United States and the United Kingdom for nearly two years from June 2023 to May 2025. However, A resigned the day after completing the training. The Foreign Ministry recovered 184.4 million won from A for not fulfilling the required 46 months of service.
Another diplomat, B, trained in the United States for about a year starting in December 2024 and resigned just 26 days after the training ended. B returned 93.99 million won.
The remaining two diplomats worked for a period after returning but did not complete their service obligations. C trained in the United Arab Emirates and the United States from 2016 to 2019, then retired in 2024, returning 27.39 million won. D studied in the United States from 2020 to 2022 and left the Foreign Ministry in January of this year during the service obligation period, returning 28.32 million won.
According to the current enforcement decree of the Public Officials Human Resource Development Act, public officials who receive more than six months of overseas training must work in related fields for double the duration of the training. Failure to comply results in the obligation to repay training and living expenses proportional to the remaining service period.
The Foreign Ministry sends about 35 employees annually to countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and Japan for training, with an annual budget of 4.3 to 4.7 billion won for tuition, living expenses, and health insurance.
Concerns have been raised that recovering training fees does not fully compensate for the loss, as opportunities for other employees to receive training are lost, and the government invests time and resources in developing diplomatic personnel who then leave the organization.
Lee stated, "We sent these individuals abroad using taxpayer money to cultivate talent beneficial to the national interest, only for them to build their personal careers while neglecting their service obligations. The Foreign Ministry must verify the commitment of candidates from the selection stage and implement measures to prevent recurrence."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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