Moon making full efforts for trade minister Yoo Myung-hee's WTO chief election

President Moon Jae-in speaks with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Monday, at Cheong Wa Dae to discuss Korea's bid for the WTO director-general. Moon has stressed in his phone conversations and letters to his counterparts that his trade minister Yoo Myung-hee is the most capable candidate to implement WTO reform and restore multilateral trading system. Yonhap

By Do Je-hae

President Moon Jae-in has been making every effort to convince the international community that Korea's first female Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee is the right person to lead the World Trade Organization (WTO). To that end, Moon has engaged in active diplomacy through phone conversations with and letters to his counterparts around the world.

Even during the Chuseok holidays last week, he spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to seek the European nation's support for Yoo's bid to become the next WTO director-general. Right after the holiday, Moon talked on the phone with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Monday, with regard to Yoo's bid for the WTO election, which is expected to conclude in early November. In the talks, Moon stressed Yoo was the best equipped to realize the goals of expanding free trade, advancing the WTO and restoring the multilateral trading system, according to Cheong Wa Dae. The President also sent letters seeking support for Yoo to leaders of 35 countries.

Yoo and four other candidates from Nigeria, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Britain have advanced into the second round of the voting process. The WTO is expected to announce the two finalists later this week.

Analysts say that the Korean trade minister's advancement into the select group is a recognition of her competitiveness as a candidate for the headship of the global trade body.

"Generally, two factors play into the selection of director-general of the WTO (and indeed most multilateral organizations like it)," Rohinton P. Medhora, president of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, based in Ontario, Canada, told The Korea Times. "First is the 'constituency' the candidate represents, be it a country, a region, or something thematic like subject-area expertise and background. The second is the qualifications and capability of the candidate herself/himself. The fact that Minister Yoo has held senior political positions in South Korea is a plus. It shows she is a smart, capable leader who understands power and political processes, which is key to navigate the WTO through this current period of turbulence. Her nationality is also significant because South Korea is widely seen as a country that used globalization and industrial policy strategically, as part of its successful development model."

"There is no question the WTO needs reform because the trade world in which it operates has changed so much. Designing and implementing this reform will require patience, experience and innovative thinking in equal parts. In principle, a strong female candidate from a dynamic part of the world is perfectly positioned to take on this role," Medhora added.

Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee leaves for Europe at the Incheon International Airport, Sept. 27, as part of her campaign for the WTO chief race. Yoo is looking to become the first Korean and first female WTO director-general. Yonhap

Prospects for final round

At this critical juncture in the election process, the government, which has set up a taskforce led by presidential chief of staff for policy Kim Sang-jo to support Yoo's campaign, is going all out to persuade WTO members that it is in the interests of the WTO to elect Yoo, a long-time trade official and expert in FTA negotiations from a middle power country that has achieved a phenomenal economic leap through the benefits of free trade.

Korea has in the past had two previous bids for the WTO chief in the mid-1990s and in 2012. But experts say that the current global trade environment, particularly with the escalating U.S.-China tension, as well as Yoo's advantages as a sitting trade minister, are favorable factors that could heighten her chances in this WTO chief election.

“One of the aspects that sets Yoo apart from her competitors, which include a former minister and a deputy WTO director-general, is that she has actual experience in conducting important negotiations and settling them,” Ahn Duk-geun, professor of international trade law and policy at the Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University, told The Korea Times.

“She was at the center of action during the Korea-U.S., Korea-EU, and Korea-China FTA deals. Such experiences are crucial for the leader of the WTO at a time when the organization is trying to reform amid the U.S.-China row.

“In particular, when the U.S. and China are in a trade war, Seoul's strategy has been to make a convincing argument that the only person who can talk to them and communicate with them is a Korean candidate. We will have to see if Yoo makes it to the final round. But this ability to mediate is going to be the most important consideration, no matter who she ends up competing with.”

Ahn, who serves as the president of the Korean Association of Trade and Industry Studies, underlined that Yoo's success in the election would be a timely landmark for taking the nation's capacity for diplomacy and trade to the next level.

“One of the biggest issues in global trade politics has been to determine who is Asia's leader ― China or Japan ― and Korea has not been able to take its place in this debate. Under such circumstances, it is extremely important from the perspective of raising diplomatic and global trade policy capacity that we produce a leader in an international organization.”

The most notable case so far has been the election of former Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon to the position of secretary-general of the United Nations after all-out efforts from the Roh Moo-hyun administration.

Ban's election as chief of the U.N. was seen as an occasion to transform Korea's status in the international community as a more responsible contributor on global issues, such as sustainable development and climate change.