“Initially, the ministry had finalized a 21-member entourage for the president´s maiden trip to China. Now there will be only 14 officials,” said the source on condition of anonymity.
MoFA, with help from the President´s Office, reduced the entourage size to cut down the expenditure of the president´s week-long trip to China. The official visit begins on October 27.
Another source said that the president was concerned after media report criticized the size of the entourage. “He called a meeting of the officials at his office and asked voluntarily to drop their names from the entourage list,” said an official at the President´s Office.
Meanwhile, officials at the President´s Office and MoFA on Sunday discussed all arrangements for the president´s visit to the northern neighbor. The president is attending the concluding ceremony of the Shanghai Expo.
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