Notification of Preference Survey to Opponent at 7 PM KST on the 28th
South Korean Government Expresses Expectation That Vote Margin Will Not Be Large
▲ Yoo Myung-hee, Head of Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of Korea (left), and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Nigerian Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs (right), who advanced to the final round for the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The prospects for the election of Yoo Myung-hee, the first Korean to challenge for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), are expected to become clearer on the night of the 28th.
Although Yoo is expected to be at a disadvantage against her competitor, Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in the WTO member countries' preference survey, the government plans to make a last-minute comeback through cooperation with major countries such as the United States.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the WTO will call in the ambassadors of Korea and Nigeria stationed in Geneva at 11 a.m. local time (7 p.m. Korean time) on the 28th to notify them of the results of the preference survey for the two candidates.
Later that day at 3 p.m. (11 p.m. Korean time), the results will be announced to all member countries.
In the preference survey involving a total of 163 countries, Okonjo-Iweala, who has gained support from the 27 European Union (EU) countries and many African countries, is widely expected to be ahead.
Although winning more votes in the preference survey does not immediately guarantee election, if one candidate leads overwhelmingly, the WTO may recommend the candidate with lower support to withdraw.
If the difference in support is not significant, the WTO will enter the final stage of negotiations to consolidate member countries' opinions around one candidate. Depending on the survey results, a conclusion may be reached without such a procedure.
The government expects the vote difference between the two candidates to be not very large, so it sees a low possibility that the WTO will immediately recommend either candidate to withdraw.
There is also growing hope that Yoo may be on par with or slightly ahead of her competitor.
The government plans to focus its diplomatic efforts on future negotiations.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "We plan to respond with our best efforts to the follow-up consultations among member countries to derive a consensus opinion, comprehensively considering the number of supporting countries, the strength of support from major countries, and the overall situation."
It is important that major powers with significant influence in the WTO, such as the United States, China, and the EU, do not oppose during the consultation process.
The United States is showing a supportive atmosphere toward candidate Yoo Myung-hee.
According to Politico, a U.S. political media outlet, the U.S. State Department sent a cable on the 25th instructing some of its overseas missions to ascertain whether the host governments support Yoo. The U.S. government reportedly even issued guidelines to subtly encourage host governments without a preferred candidate to support Yoo. Politico analyzed this as "a clear signal of U.S. support."
The government also recognizes the need for U.S. cooperation for Yoo's election and is known to be coordinating strategies for the upcoming negotiation process.
On the morning of the same day, Choi Jong-geon, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, spoke with Stephen Biegun, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, and held close consultations regarding the WTO Director-General election.
However, considering that the Trump administration has pursued protectionist policies contrary to the spirit of the WTO and that the WTO Appellate Body, which functions as a kind of supreme court in trade disputes, has been suspended due to U.S. opposition, there are concerns that U.S. support might provoke resentment among some member countries.
In particular, China, which stands in opposition to the United States at the WTO, has not yet publicly disclosed whom it supports.
If the United States and China side with Korea and Nigeria respectively and oppose the other candidate, there is speculation that the election of the Director-General could be indefinitely delayed.
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