South Korean Trade Minister, Yoo Myung-hee, announced on Wednesday (24.06.2020) her attempt to become the next director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), with the objective of ser the first female leader of the WTO.
The nomination process began earlier this month to find a successor to Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, who is leaving office a year early at the end of August.
«The international community is becoming increasingly protectionist… so that the WTO can overcome the current crisis, the role of a middle power to mediate conflicts between member states is important"Yoo said in a statement before a news conference.
«Korea can serve as a bridge, based on its experience of growth through trade«.
Yoo is the first woman to serve as South Korea's trade minister since its creation in 1948, and if selected would be the WTO's first female director-general.
Yoo, 53, led South Korea's renegotiation of a trade deal with the United States and worked on South Korea's trade pacts with Singapore and ASEAN.
Earlier this month, South Korea resumed a WTO dispute with Japan over export restrictions on some high-tech materials, saying talks to resolve the dispute, born out of a deterioration in bilateral relations last year, had failed to make headway.
South Korea is heavily dependent on foreign trade, with exports and imports accounting for 63.7% of its nominal GDP in 2019, according to data from the Korea International Trade Association.
Source: Reuters
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