Ministry of Trade's soccer club seeks new leader ahead of friendly with Japan's METI

"We have a friendly soccer match against Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry coming up in November, and both the club president and co-vice president positions are vacant — it's a real concern."

Members of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's soccer club — the largest recreational club within the ministry — voiced that worry after the club lost its anchor when Park Jung-sung, the former assistant minister for trade, was promoted to chief trade negotiator last month, automatically vacating the club presidency.

Ministry staff say finding a director-general-level official willing to serve as club president has become nearly impossible.

According to government sources Sunday, the ministry currently runs 15 recreational clubs covering soccer, baseball, badminton, yoga, swimming, table tennis, marathon running and hiking, among others.

The ministry provides quarterly subsidies based on membership size: 150,000 won ($110) for six to nine members, 200,000 won for 10 to 17 members, 300,000 won for 18 to 27 members, and 400,000 won for 28 or more. Additional grants are available based on activity: 1 million won for hosting an all-staff tournament, 500,000 won for hosting an inter-ministry or affiliated-agency competition, and 300,000 won for organizing an exhibition or concert.

At present, only the hiking club — with 35 members — has a director-general at the helm, with Planning and Coordination Director Oh Seung-cheol serving as president. When Park held the assistant minister post, he led both the soccer club (37 members) and the women's futsal club (27 members). Former spokesperson Lee Yong-pil headed the marathon club (38 members) until July, when he left to become president of the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT). None of the three clubs has named a successor.

By convention, sports clubs such as soccer, marathon, baseball, tennis and basketball have traditionally been led by director-general-level officials, but insiders say recruiting such officials has grown increasingly difficult over the past several years. Because practice sessions and tournaments are held in Sejong on weekends and public holidays, most director-generals — who live in Seoul — are reluctant to make the trip.

In practice, both Park and former spokesperson Lee were Sejong residents and rarely missed club practices or matches. Among current director-generals, Seo Ga-ram, a standing commissioner of the Trade Commission, is the only one who lives in Sejong.

Against that backdrop, there is a strong sense within the ministry that the soccer club in particular needs a director-general as president, given its annual friendly against Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The fixture carries symbolic weight beyond camaraderie, serving as a channel for broadening economic cooperation between the two countries.

The two ministries held the annual friendly every year from 2003 to 2018, alternating between the two countries — a tradition launched the year after South Korea and Japan co-hosted the 2002 World Cup to mark that shared success.

The series began after Oh Young-ho, a former vice minister of trade who later served as vice chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), proposed a friendly match to officials from METI's soccer club during a business trip to Japan. Oh was serving as president of the ministry's soccer club at the time.

The series was suspended in 2019 amid strained bilateral relations following Japan's export restrictions, then halted further by the COVID-19 pandemic before resuming in 2023 after a five-year hiatus. The all-time record stands at eight wins, three draws and eight losses for the South Korean ministry — but all eight of its victories date to 2017, and the team has gone without a win for the past decade.

This year, METI's soccer club is scheduled to travel to South Korea in November for the match. METI's squad is made up of players in their 20s, while the ministry's side averages in their 40s, setting up a clash of youthful energy against seasoned experience.

Adding to the club's woes, Im Chae-wook, the former head of the automotive division who served as co-vice president of the soccer club, has moved to Cheong Wa Dae, leaving morale subdued.

"There's roughly a 15-year age gap on average between our players and METI's," one club member said. "Physically, we're at a disadvantage — that's just the reality — but we'll take them on with our passion for the game and individual flair."

The member added, "That said, morale has taken a hit since the president and co-vice president both stepped away recently. We'd love to see successors with the kind of leadership that former President Park and former Vice President Im showed — staying to the very end of every match and encouraging the members."