Yoo highlights revitalization of multilateralism at WTO

By Kang Yoon-seung
   SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Yonhap) — South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee said Wednesday Seoul will continue its efforts to expand cooperation with major trade partners at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

   “We plan to bolster ties and cooperation with major trading partners and promote open free trade around the globe,” Yoo said during a meeting with trade experts. “With such partners, we plan to make efforts to rebuild multilateral trade led by the World Trade Organization.” 
   The trade minister also expressed hope over the implementation of the upcoming major regional trade pact. In November, members of ASEAN, along with its dialogue partners, South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, inked the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

   ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.’

In this file photo taken on Dec. 1, 2020, Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee delivers a speech in southern Seoul during a conference. (Yonhap)

 Seoul will also continue to review joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement involving 11 nations, she added.

   Yoo, meanwhile, is currently running to become the new head of the WTO.

   But she has failed to drum up landslide support from the WTO’s member countries, with her Nigerian rival, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, standing ahead in a two-way race.

   The WTO said earlier Okonjo-Iweala has garnered more support from the member states than Yoo.

   The process to pick the new director-general of the WTO is based on consensus among all member states, meaning a single nation could block either Yoo or Okonjo-Iweala.

   The WTO had planned to hold a meeting this year to pick a new head, but the meeting was delayed, as the United States expressed support for Yoo.

   colin@yna.co.kr

Copyright (c) Yonhap News Agency