KOTRA’s Korea Trade Center in Beijing believed China’s urea export measures to be a problem only with raw materials for fertilizers and reported to its headquarters on October 22. The center did not recognize that this was a significant problem that could affect passengers. cars, freight vehicles, fire trucks, construction machinery and even power plants that use a urea solution for air pollutant reduction devices in diesel engines. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy made a similar report to its senior office, which means that an explanation from an official in Cheong Wae Dae that they believed it was that a fertilizer problem was true. The government’s late response by holding the first meeting three weeks after the Chinese plan was introduced was the result of a series of errors in judgment.
KOTRA said the error in judgment was due to the lack of a department in charge of import matters, as it is an organization supporting export. It is an absurd excuse, but one public body alone cannot be held accountable for all. The changes in the export policy of China, which is South Korea’s largest trading partner, should have been noticed by the South Korean Embassy in China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the National Service. intelligence, which collects and analyzes information on foreign industries. South Korean Ambassador to China Jang Ha-sung, who had coordinated South Korea’s economic policies as Presidential Secretary for Policy in the current administration and NIS Director Park Jie-won, s ‘is committed to putting an end to illegal inspections and political involvement and to putting in place a strong information organization. because the overseas industries will not be able to avoid the responsibility of the urea solution supply shortage.
As the shortage persists, the government and big companies are trying to find solutions to import urea and are gradually solving the problem. However, unless the faulty and out of sync information reporting and analysis system for foreign industries is improved, similar problems caused by human error will reoccur. Government should strengthen overseas industry information analysis capacity and restore an industry information network that organically links government offices overseas and South Korean companies overseas. in order to prepare for drastic changes in the global supply chain.
