Negotiator Yoo Myung-hee to Save the Troubled WTO... Challenges for Secretary-General

Government Forms 'Inter-Ministerial TF' Including Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Active Support
"Strengthening International Cooperation System Deemed Crucial for Enhancing National Interests"

The photo shows Yoo Myung-hee, Director-General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, presiding over the "Meeting on Japan's Export Controls" at the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on July 4 last year. The overall assessment is that she demonstrated excellent crisis management skills through a resolute response. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government announced on the 24th that it has approved the candidacy of Yoo Myung-hee, the Chief Trade Negotiator, for the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) at the Ministerial Meeting on External Economic Affairs. This decision was made because strengthening the international cooperation system is deemed important for enhancing national interests.

According to the government, Chief Yoo is a current trade minister with extensive experience and expertise in the trade sector over the past 25 years. She is recognized as having sufficient qualifications and capabilities suitable for the next WTO Director-General.

The government plans to officially register Chief Yoo's candidacy with the WTO Secretariat through the Permanent Mission in Geneva on the same day.

As of this day, five candidates have registered: Chief Yoo; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chairperson of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAM) from Nigeria; Hamid Mamdouh, a lawyer and former Egyptian Foreign Ministry official; Jesus Seade, Deputy Foreign Minister for North American Affairs from Mexico; and Tudor Ulianovski, former Moldovan Ambassador to Geneva.

There remains a possibility that other candidates may announce their candidacy by the registration deadline on the 8th of next month.

The Director-General election process proceeds in the order of 'candidate registration → election campaign → consultations among member countries.' Through consultations, candidates with low support are eliminated repeatedly until a final single candidate is selected.

The schedule after the candidate registration period has not yet been determined. The government expects the WTO Secretariat to expedite the process to minimize the vacancy period of the Director-General position.

Typically, the election campaign takes three months and consultations among member countries take two months, but in exceptional cases where a vacancy occurs in the Director-General position, the period can be shortened. The current WTO Director-General, Roberto Azev?do, will resign early on August 31.

The term of the WTO Director-General is four years, and one reappointment is allowed. Only two Director-Generals have served a second term: Pascal Lamy of France (5th and 6th terms) and the current Director-General Azev?do.

Countries that have produced WTO Director-Generals include Ireland (1st term, 1993?95), Italy (2nd term, 1995?99), New Zealand (3rd term, 1999?2002), Thailand (4th term, 2002?05), France (5th and 6th terms, 2005?13), and Brazil (7th and 8th terms, 2013?present).

A government official stated, "We plan to actively support Chief Yoo's WTO Director-General candidacy activities by forming an inter-ministerial task force (TF) involving related ministries such as the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.