MOMAF(the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries)

Introduction - The Era of Blue Revolution - A Marine Power Leads the World

Korea, with its jurisdictional waters encompassing four times its land area and coastlines expanding 12,000 kilometers long, has the potential to become a major marine power, establishing itself as an axis of global economic growth.

It has become a top 10 country in the shipping, port, fisheries and shipbuilding industries, recording 590 million tons of seaborne cargo handling volume, 9.76 million G/T of shipbuilding orders, and 2.9 million tons of fisheries production in 2003. The development of the Korean marine industries in recent decades has been nothing short of spectacular.

Under such fortunate circumstances, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MOMAF) was established in August 1996, in order to integrate marine-related functions that had been scattered among 13 other government agencies.

The integration was designed to help Korea become a leading marine power by giving priority to its marine policy and promoting the competitiveness of its marine industry.

Currently, the Ministry has elaborated a new vision and strategy as a launch pad for Korea to be among the world’s elite maritime nations. The initiative focuses on globalization and knowledge/information-based management, with which to proactively respond to the changes in the marine and fisheries environments.

The newly proposed “Basic Plan for Marine Development (Ocean Korea 21)” aims at addressing the pending issues challenging the world in the 21st century, such as those involving food, resources, environment and space restrictions. Its ultimate goal is to upgrade the competitiveness of Korea’s marine industries through the Blue Revolution.

The Plan, in conformity with the changed maritime/fisheries paradigm of the 21st century, has three basic objectives: creation of living oceans, establishment of knowledge-based marine industries and sustainable development of marine resources.

It also has some 100 detailed strategies under them, among which is a core initiative for upgrading Korea’s ports to the logistics hub of the Northeast Asian region. Based on the Plan, MOMAF will come up with annual implementation programs and lead Korea to be a marine power of the 21st century.