Yeo Hangoo: "Full-Fledged Korea-U.S. Shuttle Negotiations to Begin... U.S. Task Force to Expand and Restructure"

Yeo Hangoo Returns as Director General
"We Will Devote All Our Capabilities"

Yeo Hangoo, Director General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, delivers a congratulatory speech at the "2022 New Trade Strategy Seminar" held on the 6th at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. This seminar was organized to explore various response measures for Korea's supply chain, technology, climate change, health, and medical issues amid new trade challenges. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

On June 12, Yeo Hangoo, the newly appointed Director General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, announced his intention to strengthen Korea's trade response system with the United States, stating, "We will begin full-fledged shuttle negotiations between the Korean and U.S. trade ministers."

In his inaugural address that day, Yeo said, "We will expand and reorganize the 'U.S. Negotiation Task Force' to cover trade, industry, and energy, and we will upgrade our chief working-level representative from director-general level to vice-ministerial level."

He emphasized a pragmatic negotiation approach that reflects the new government's national philosophy, stating, "With the fate of the nation at stake in Korea-U.S. trade negotiations, I will devote all the capabilities of the Trade Negotiations Headquarters."

He added, "Standing here again in a trade environment where even the near future is difficult to predict, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility," and stated, "Through these negotiations, we will establish a new structural framework for Korea-U.S. cooperation in industry, trade, and investment for the next five years, and strengthen cooperation in cutting-edge technology fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) and digital."

Yeo referred to his experience at the time of the World Trade Organization (WTO) launch in the early 1990s when he began his public service career, saying, "If that era was the 'dawn of globalization,' now is an inflection point where the structure of the trade order is fundamentally changing." He particularly emphasized, recalling his recent experience at a Washington think tank, that "complex changes such as geopolitical competition, technological innovation, the spread of protectionism, and competition in industrial policy are not temporary phenomena but structural changes."

He continued, "In such a world, we also need to change our structure to survive," and said, "The Republic of Korea urgently needs trade and industry talent and the Trade Negotiations Headquarters."

He also delivered a message to the ministry's staff. Yeo stressed that "this is a time that requires keen judgment, strategic thinking, a sense of the real economy, and a challenging spirit with the DNA of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry," and highlighted that the synergy between industrial policy and trade policy is more essential than ever.

He concluded, "Just as Korea needs the United States, the United States also needs Korea," and added, "We will negotiate confidently based on a mutually beneficial partnership."

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