Seoul rallies support for trade minister’s bid for WTO leadership

South Korean trade chief Yoo Myung-hee’s run for the World Trade Organization director general post will face its next decision Tuesday in Switzerland, with the second round of the selection process coming to a close.

The second round will see two candidates selected for the final round, the timeline for which has not yet been decided.

As the race heads to a close, Yoo appeared to be in with a good chance, with the European Union choosing to back Yoo and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria‘s former finance minister.

From early on in the selection process, President Moon Jae-in and Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have rallied support for Yoo.

Yoo is a career bureaucrat who joined the civil service in 1991. For much of her 29-year career, Yoo has worked on trade issues ranging from free trade agreement negotiations to multilateral trade, and has been serving as the country’s trade minister since February 2019.

Since July, Moon has been requesting world leaders’ support for Yoo. Moon’s “telephone diplomacy” for rallying support for Yoo began with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, followed by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In his latest conversation with a foreign leader, with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday, Moon again requested support for Yoo, saying she is the ideal candidate for the post.

“Korea‘s Yoo Myung-hee is the ideal person to realize the two countries’ shared goal of expanding free trade, advancing the WTO and restoring multilateral trade,” Moon was quoted as saying by Cheong Wa Dae.

According to Cheong Wa Dae, most of the leaders Moon spoke to recognized Yoo’s qualification as a trade policy maker, and expressed general approval of her for the post of WTO director general.

Moon is also reported to have written to leaders of 35 nations requesting their countries’ support for Yoo’s bid.

In addition to Moon, the Foreign Ministry has been trying to rally support for Yoo, having asked for support at 20 high-level meetings and sending correspondences to some 130 WTO member states.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)