"Yoo Myung-hee Advances to WTO Director-General Final... Faces Nigerian Candidate in Final Showdown"

Official Announcement Scheduled at WTO Informal Ambassador-Level Meeting on the 8th
First Female Secretary-General Confirmed... Final Result Expected Before November 7

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Yoo Myung-hee, head of the Trade Negotiations Department at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, has advanced to the final round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General election, Bloomberg News reported on the 7th (local time), citing sources.

According to the report, the WTO Secretariat is scheduled to officially announce this at the WTO informal ambassador-level meeting on the 8th. The final runoff includes Yoo and Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. With two female candidates advancing to the final round, the WTO will have its first female Director-General in its 25-year history.

If Yoo is ultimately elected, she will become the first female WTO Director-General and simultaneously the first Korean to lead the WTO. Previously, former Minister of Commerce Kim Cheol-soo in 1995 and former head of the Trade Negotiations Department Park Tae-ho in 2013 ran for WTO Director-General but were unsuccessful.

Since July, Yoo has actively campaigned by visiting countries such as the United States and Switzerland and meeting key figures from various nations. She emphasized her suitability as WTO Director-General by highlighting her expertise as a trade specialist and her current position as a trade minister. President Moon Jae-in also actively supported her by requesting backing from leaders of countries including Germany during phone calls.

Her opponent, Okonjo-Iweala, is a former Nigerian Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and has worked for the World Bank (WB) for a long time, giving her high international recognition. She has been considered a strong candidate partly because no African has ever served as WTO Director-General.

The WTO Secretariat will conduct the final round from late this month until the 6th of next month. Bloomberg reported that the election result is expected to be decided before the 7th of next month. In the final round, the 164 member countries can express their preference for only one candidate.

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