Government goes all out for Yoo's WTO election

President Moon Jae-in presides over a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. The government is making all-out efforts to convince the international community that Korea's Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee is the right person to lead the World Trade Organization. Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

The government is making all-out efforts to convince the international community that Korea's Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee is the right person to lead the World Trade Organization (WTO). Yoo reached the final round of the election for the next director-general of the WTO, for which the results are expected to be announced early next month.

President Moon Jae-in and Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun have engaged in active diplomacy through phone conversations and letters, while other high-ranking Korean officials have been advocating Yoo's eligibility for the coveted position to their foreign counterparts.

Moon spoke with Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin over the phone, Monday, to seek support for Yoo's bid to become the next WTO director-general, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Moon is planning to hold at least five talks with his foreign counterparts over the phone this week with regard to Yoo's bid.

"Minister Yoo has expertise in the field of trade and outstanding capabilities such as building her network and the political leadership she has demonstrated as the incumbent trade minister. I am confident she is the best person to take the role of adjusting the sharp conflicts of interest of developed and developing countries, while successfully carrying out reform of the WTO," Moon told Yassin.

Moon previously talked to other foreign leaders earlier this month, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, to seek their support when Yoo and four other candidates advanced into the second round of the voting process. Yoo and Nigerian-born economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala are the two finalists.

On Oct. 12 after Yoo advanced to the final round, the President also presided over a meeting to discuss the government's support plan for Yoo. During the meeting, Moon asked Prime Minister Chung and former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, who currently heads the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), to actively engage in diplomacy to support Yoon's bid.

Chung talked on the phone with Colombian President Ivan Duque, Monday, and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahendra Rajapaksa and Guatemalan Vice President Cesar Guillermo Castillo Reyes, Tuesday, as well as writing letters to his counterparts in 27 countries to seek support for Yoo.

DPK leader Lee asked for Japan's support during his meeting with Takeo Kawamura, a former chief cabinet secretary and current head of the Japan-Korea parliamentary group, Sunday, during Kawamura's visit to Seoul. Kawamura is a close aide to Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and current Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is also seeking her foreign counterparts' support. During her phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this month, Kang asked the U.S. to support Yoo's bid.

National Security Office Director Suh Hoon, who met his U.S. counterpart Robert O'Brien as well as Pompeo last week on his visit to Washington, D.C., also talked to the U.S. senior officials with regard to Yoo's bid for the WTO election.

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