Yoo Myung-hee Goes All Out to Secure Allies for WTO Director-General Election... Meetings with US Government and Industry

Negotiations with the US... "Strengthening Talks, WTO Reform as Key Task"

Yoo Myung-hee, the Chief Trade Negotiator of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, departing for Washington D.C., USA, through Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport in Yeongjongdo on the morning of the 15th. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Yoo Myung-hee, the head of the Trade Negotiation Headquarters, who is running for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), visited the United States just before the candidate pool was narrowed from eight to five, accelerating support negotiations.

From the 15th to the 18th, Yoo visited Washington DC, USA, meeting with key officials and experts in the US government’s trade sector and conducting support lobbying activities related to the election of the next WTO Director-General.

In the meetings, she stated that the WTO’s three core functions?negotiation, dispute settlement, and implementation monitoring?must be restored so that the WTO can promptly secure its relevance.

She particularly emphasized that revitalizing the negotiation function to update WTO rules in line with the changing economic realities is one of the main tasks of WTO reform.

Yoo highlighted her suitability to successfully carry out these tasks through her experience in concluding trade negotiations with various countries and her political capabilities as the current Minister of Trade, requesting the support of the United States.

She participated in a webinar hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce, communicating with US industry about the direction of WTO reform and future priority work.

The companies participating in the webinar agreed on the necessity of revitalizing the WTO’s negotiation function, especially emphasizing the importance of concluding the ongoing plurilateral negotiations on electronic commerce at the WTO.

In the first round of the WTO Director-General election, the number of candidates will be reduced from eight to five, and in the second round, from five to two. The election schedule will be determined by David Walker, Chair of the WTO General Council, in consultation with member countries.

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