Yoo Myung-hee: "US Wants Reform, Not WTO Withdrawal" (Comprehensive)

"US-China Rivalry and WTO Multilateral Trade Revival Are Not Conflicting"
"Confident in Gaining Developing Countries' Support... Korea's Experience Will Deliver a Positive Message"
"Candidacy for Secretary-General Will Not Negatively Affect Korea-Japan WTO Disputes"
"Expecting Achievements in E-commerce and Fisheries Subsidies Negotiations at Next Year's Trade Ministers' Meeting"

Yoo Myung-hee, Chief Negotiator of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, declares her candidacy for the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) at the Government Complex Sejong on the 24th. (Photo by Moon Chae-seok)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] "I do not think that World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries are biased toward specific countries such as the United States and China. If multilateral norms do not function properly, we have no choice but to rely on unilateralism. Even if the US and China confront each other, it is more beneficial to our national interest that the world’s scope of activity expands to operate according to common norms through the revival of the WTO."

Yoo Myung-hee, Director-General for Trade at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said this on the 24th at the Government Complex Sejong while declaring her candidacy for WTO Director-General. She emphasized that Korea’s active participation in the multilateral trade organization WTO does not conflict with the interests of hegemonic countries.

Director-General Yoo explained, "The basic position of the US Trade Representative (USTR) is not to withdraw from the WTO but that reform is necessary, and the right person to lead the reform should be the WTO Director-General. I have experience working on the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and have also worked to finalize the Korea-China FTA."

She said that Korea can serve as a bridge between developed and developing countries and is confident in gaining votes.

Director-General Yoo stated, "Showing that Korea could grow in such a short period through the multilateral trade order will send a good message to developing countries. When developed countries make unreasonable demands to developing countries, I have experience explaining Korea’s experience and negotiating. I will approach both sides."

She did not believe that her candidacy for WTO Director-General would negatively affect the litigation process with Japan.

She said, "I think it is essential to restore the dispute settlement function by running for Director-General to respond to various disputes and lawsuits. The litigation with Japan is an individual matter, and we are thoroughly responding according to our government’s position that export control measures violate WTO norms."

Director-General Yoo stated that if elected, she would achieve visible results early in the field of electronic commerce. This is a sharp area where disputes have recently arisen between the European Union (EU) and global ICT companies such as Amazon and Apple.

She said, "There are no common global norms related to electronic commerce, and it is fragmented, increasing costs to comply with each country’s regulations. It will not be easy to coordinate the opinions of over 80 WTO member countries, but at least at the WTO Ministerial Conference to be held next year, we will achieve visible results in the ongoing electronic commerce negotiations and fisheries subsidies negotiations."

She added, "Achieving results in these two negotiations is the way to restore trust that the WTO’s norm-setting function is working properly."

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