Who Would Host a G20 Secretariat?

Seoul and Paris are among putative locations for a permanent G20 secretariat if the temporary gathering is upgraded into a permanent international body.

The secretariat would be the headquarters of the organization like the UN in New York. Its establishment was formally suggested by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in August, and France is to host the next G20 summit.

Korea had also called for a G20 secretariat in the run-up to the G20 Seoul Summit. But there was no discussion during the summit last week.

Some member countries are reportedly in favor of discussing it even before next year's G20 summit. Besides Korea and France, newly emerging economies such as China and Brazil support the establishment of a secretariat.

But some other member countries such as Japan and Italy, which prefer the previous G7 regime, oppose the idea.

As an alternative, Seoul is proposing a "cyber secretariat" where member countries can discuss issues online, believing that this proposal can embrace even countries that are opposed to a permanent body.