Start of 1st Round of WTO Director-General Selection Talks

Yoo Myung-hee, Chief Trade Negotiator, Departs for Geneva for Support Negotiations

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Yoo Myung-hee, the Chief Negotiator of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, will depart for Geneva, Switzerland on the 31st to campaign for the first round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General election.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 30th that Chief Negotiator Yoo will leave to campaign for the first round of the WTO Director-General election consultation process, scheduled from the 7th to the 16th of next month.

Chief Negotiator Yoo plans to contact ambassadors from various countries stationed in Geneva and request support in the first round through telephone consultations with trade ministers of each country on site.

According to the Ministry, the WTO selects the Director-General by eliminating a certain number of candidates in each round and then electing the remaining single candidate by consensus in the final stage. This election consists of a total of three rounds.

In the first round, ambassadors from 164 member countries will confidentially indicate up to four preferred candidates before the "Troika" (Chair of the General Council, Chair of the Dispute Settlement Body, Chair of the Trade Policy Review Body). The three candidates with the least preference will be eliminated.

In the second round, among the remaining five candidates, each member country will present up to two preferred candidates to select the final two.

In the last third round, each member country will indicate one preferred candidate, and the remaining candidate will be unanimously endorsed by all members.

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