A People Power Party lawmaker raised concerns Tuesday that the South Korean government's spending on US lobbying consultancies has grown year after year, yet has done little to resolve ongoing friction with Washington.
According to data submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Ko Dong-jin (Seoul's Gangnam-gu B district) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the two ministries have spent several billion won annually on advisory contracts targeting the US Congress and government.
The combined advisory contract spending rose from $2.524 million in 2022 to $2.777 million in 2025, an increase of approximately 375 million won ($276,000) over the period.
A breakdown of the ministries' advisory contract records on US government and congressional engagement shows that each year the two ministries contracted with roughly 10 prominent US lobbying firms to carry out general congressional advisory work and outreach, policy promotion and public diplomacy consulting toward the United States, dispute resolution and legal advisory services, and network-building consulting.
Compared with major domestic and global corporations, the two ministries' combined lobbying expenditure last year was lower than that of large Korean conglomerates such as Samsung and Hyundai, as well as major global firms — but it exceeded the amount spent by Coupang Inc, whose own lobbying activities had drawn public scrutiny.
Breaking down spending by ministry and year, the Foreign Ministry disbursed $1.665 million in 2022, $1.82 million in 2023, $2.025 million in 2024 and $1.934 million in 2025. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy spent $859,000 in 2022, $895,000 in 2023, $814,000 in 2024 and $843,000 in 2025.
Ko said he does not believe the government's lobbying activities are inherently wrong, given that lobbying is a legal and common form of external engagement in the United States. "Despite the government's active lobbying and explanations, the United States continues to raise concerns that its companies are being treated unfairly in Korea," he said. "Given that tens of billions of won in taxpayer money are spent every year, there is a need to carefully examine whether the government's lobbying activities are actually playing a proper role in resolving tensions between Korea and the United States."
bigroot@heraldcorp.com
