Yoo Myung-hee: "I Will Continue to Seek Japan's Support... I Am Neither 'Pro-China' Nor 'Pro-US'"

WTO Secretary-General Election... 8 Country Candidates Compete
Engaging with Over 120 Member Countries for Support
"Ability and Qualifications to Achieve WTO Reform Results Are Important"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Yoo Myung-hee, head of the Trade Negotiation Department at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, who is running for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), stated on the 6th that regarding Japan’s unfriendly stance, "We will continue to seek support based on the past cooperation between the two countries."

Yoo said at the government complex in Sejong on the same day, "A robust multilateral trading system benefits Japan as well, which has continued economic growth through trade."

Yoo revealed that during her support lobbying activities from the 13th to the 22nd of last month in Geneva, Switzerland, where she met with over 120 WTO member countries, she also contacted the Japanese Ambassador to Geneva to share thoughts and visions regarding the WTO.

She emphasized, "Japan has also publicly stated that it considers whether a candidate is capable of WTO reform to be important."

In this WTO Director-General election, eight candidates from countries including the UK, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, Moldova, and Saudi Arabia are competing, including Yoo Myung-hee.

Some foreign media have speculated that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria) or Amina Mohamed (Kenya) have an advantage, citing factors such as their gender and the fact that no WTO Director-General has ever come from Africa.

Regarding this, Yoo said, "In fact, the WTO has no rules regarding regional allocation of the Director-General position," adding, "This is not a normal time; the WTO is in a serious crisis, so the member countries’ atmosphere is to evaluate more importantly whether the candidate has the ability and qualities to achieve actual WTO reform results."

Regarding the speculation that the WTO election will become a 'divide and rule' between the US and China, she said, "If asked whether I am pro-China or pro-US, I answer 'pro-member countries.'"

She added, "I have participated in concluding free trade agreements (FTAs) with both the US and China," and "This experience with both countries will be a great asset in a situation where the WTO is deadlocked due to the division crisis among countries."

Since returning to Korea, Yoo has continued her support lobbying activities by phone with trade ministers of various countries. So far, she has conducted phone lobbying with about 30 countries, and on this day, she had lunch with ambassadors from eight African countries.

Meanwhile, the WTO will hold the election campaign period until the 6th of next month and then proceed with the consultation process among member countries for up to two months starting from the 7th of next month.

The consultation process consists of three rounds, where member countries express their preferred candidates in each round and eliminate some candidates based on that.

In the first round, three out of eight candidates will be eliminated; in the second round, three out of five candidates will be eliminated. In the third round, one final candidate will be selected as Director-General through a consensus method from the remaining two candidates.

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