President Moon talks with Canadian Prime Minister "Support Yoo Myung-hee in WTO election"

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
"Yoo Myung-hee, a candidate well-rounded in network and leadership"

President Moon Jae-in is speaking with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the morning of the 27th at the Blue House.

On the 27th, President Moon Jae-in had a phone conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, requesting support for Yoo Myung-hee, the head of the Trade Negotiations Division at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, who advanced to the final round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General election. They also exchanged views on mutual interests such as cooperation in response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and multilateral cooperation.

During the approximately 25-minute call starting at 10 a.m., President Moon requested Canada’s support for candidate Yoo Myung-hee, who is the best fit to mediate the sharp interests between developed and developing countries and successfully carry out WTO reform, White House spokesperson Kang Min-seok said.

President Moon introduced to Prime Minister Trudeau, "Korean candidate Yoo Myung-hee is the candidate who possesses expertise in the trade sector, a network built as the current trade minister, and political leadership."

Prime Minister Trudeau responded, "I highly appreciate candidate Yoo’s experience and capabilities so far," and "I wish candidate Yoo Myung-hee success in the final round."

President Moon expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Trudeau for sending a video message for the 70th anniversary of the Korean War on June 25, and evaluated Trudeau’s strong domestic response measures and leadership in international cooperation amid the recent resurgence of COVID-19, wishing for the swift stabilization of the COVID-19 situation in Canada.

Spokesperson Kang said, "The two leaders agreed to continue close communication and cooperation in various international multilateral forums such as the WTO and OECD as strategic partners and like-minded countries on the international stage."

Meanwhile, Korea and Canada are jointly participating in the WTO reform subgroup (Ottawa Group). The Ottawa Group is a meeting of about ten middle powers including Korea, the EU, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, and Brazil, led by Canada (chair country) to discuss WTO reform and other issues.