Trade minister makes final round of WTO chief race

Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee attends a press conference in Geneva, July 16, following her hearing before 164 member states' representatives, as part of the application process to be elected head of the World Trade Organization. AFP-Yonhap

By Nam Hyun-woo

Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee has made it into the final round for the election of a new chief of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

According to the WTO, Thursday, Yoo and Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala have advanced to third round of the process to select the new leader for the Geneva-based trade body.

In the final round, member countries will reach a consensus on the winner and the WTO will approve the final candidate during a general council meeting. The process is widely expected to be completed by early November.

As both final-round candidates are women, the WTO will have its first female director general in its 25-year history.

Yoo is the third Korean to run for the top post at the WTO, following her predecessors' failed bids in 1994 and 2012.

During her campaign, she has been pledging to refurbish the trade body so that it can recover its lost functions of promoting trade pacts and settling disputes, making it more “relevant, resilient and responsive.”

Yoo launched her campaign amid a trade dispute between Korea and Japan, which came after Tokyo abruptly imposed export restrictions on key industrial items against Seoul, citing security issues.

In response to Japan's move, Seoul filed a complaint with the WTO in September last year, and the WTO launched a panel to look into the dispute.

So far, the efficacy of this process has faced questions due to the possibility of the case reaching the Appellate Body, which has been shut down. The shutdown has caused concern for not only Korea but also other WTO members as many cases will likely end up seeing no meaningful outcomes. Yoo's pledge to restore the WTO's negotiating function appears to be in line with resolving this matter.