Meddlesome Partner

President-elect Park Geun-hye silenced the foreign ministry last week by reaffirming that its trade-negotiating function should move to the industry ministry. Yet local diplomats read of unexpected supports from sectors in U.S. industry published in financial papers.

“This would be a big step backward for Seoul, which during the past decade has thrown itself into free trade negotiations with passion,” the Wall Street Journal stated in an editorial which emphasized the advantages of free trade and problems of protectionism. “Instead, she proposes to take Korea’s trade policy back to the chaebol-dominated days…”

Of course, one of media outlets’ main functions is to criticize policymakers, local or foreign, and they can pay particular attention to changes in major trade partners. Also, free trade is a good thing, on which Korea depends for much of its current prosperity.

But there are differences in views regarding the merits of trade liberalization especially since the 2008 global financial crisis resulting in a large part from Anglo-American neo-liberalistic economic credo of free market idolatry. How can we foreigners interpret the revival of the “buy-U.S. campaign” in the aftermath of the crisis?

And there can be few one-size-fits-all administrative organizations because each country has its own peculiarities. In...