SEOUL– The foreign ministry said Thursday it is working to establish a new bureau in charge of “science and technology diplomacy” in a bid to deal more proactively with relevant issues and challenges facing South Korea.

The ministry has a department that handles relevant affairs, but its new head, Park Jin, openly raised the need for expanding the team to a bureau with a larger workforce and more resources. The minister was speaking to a group of South Korean correspondents in Washington D.C. during his trip there earlier this week.

Internal preparations are already under way and there will be interagency consultations, according to ministry spokesperson Choi Young-sam.

If launched, the bureau will be tasked with focusing on diplomacy related to science, technology and cyber sectors.

Source: Yonhap News Agency