Taiwan's representative to the 13th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is missing from an official South Korean monthly that features the event, apparently because of Taiwan's delay in clinching its final candidate.
With the theme "Asia-Pacific Leaders Gather in Busan," the latest edition of Korea Policy Review, a monthly published by the Korean Overseas Information Service, uses half-length photos of leaders from member economies on its front cover.
On the center of the front cover, the event's host, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, is pictured. Russian President Vladmir Putin, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), US President George W. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi are pictured in the front row, with the other leaders placed behind. However, Lin Hsin-yi (林信義), President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) envoy to the summit, is absent.
The same situation is also seen in an introduction of the leaders in the official magazine.
"The deadline for the magazine was in the middle of last month, before we decided on our envoy," John Chen (
Tony Ong (
Given the GIO's lack of awareness about the matter until a local reporter approached with the question, Chen said that the ministry would look into the case and determine who should shoulder the responsibility.
The Korean Overseas Information Service could not be reached for comment.
According to a Taiwanese correspondent in South Korea, one South Korean official had asked him not to report on Lin's absence from the magazine after he received his issue of the monthly at the end of last month, saying at the time Taiwan had not yet come up with a candidate.
Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's official agency appointed to cover the APEC events, has included Lin's photo with the other leaders on its Web site of the APEC special report.
RSS