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South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, who has advanced to the final round of the selection process for the World Trade Organization’s position of director-general. (Yonhap News)

What happened behind the scenes on Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee’s path to becoming one of the final two candidates for the position of World Trade Organization (WTO) director-general? A reported factor in the current election of the next director-general has been a clear trend of regionally based voting, with representatives voting for the candidate from their own region or continent. Analysts also attributed Yoo’s emergence as one of the final third-round candidates -- even as the extremely powerful European Union (EU) defied early expectations in naming preferred candidates representing Nigeria and Kenya – to concerted South Korean efforts to win over the EU and the international community with calls to refrain from “unseemly contests of regional group power.”

A senior trade official said on Oct. 8 that there had been a “trend in the recent election of the 164 WTO member countries casting votes based on their region or continent.”

“We’ve been steadily working on the EU [27 member countries], telling them, ‘We know Europe is close to Africa. But if even the countries of the EU simply adopt an attitude of support based on regional and historical linkages, Europe will be unable to avoid responsibility for the current moment, which demands reforms to the imperiled WTO and restoration of a multilateral trade regime,’” the official explained.

This points to the strategic deployment of the argument that while the EU may be historically and geography close to Africa, Europe would be unable to avoid responsibility for regionalist voting patterns if the final two candidates in the voting were both from Africa. The 27 EU member countries have united in presenting a single “preferred candidate.” The current race to select the next director-general has been characterized by observers as a “power battle” as member countries attempt to rally votes behind candidates representing their own region or continent. Indeed, among the five out of eight original candidates who reached the second round of voting, the two representing the UK and Saudi Arabia were found to have benefited from unanimous votes by Commonwealth members and Islamic states, respectively.

“As a driving force in the WTO, the EU has the responsibility to put a stop to these kinds of regionalist voting practices,” the same official said.

“Our argument was that it won’t do the WTO any good if the new director-general’s selection is based on even Europe engaging in this kind of ‘play,’” the official added.

Analysts attributed Yoo’s advancement to a two-pronged strategy emphasizing her many years of experience as a trade expert and her political capabilities while criticizing the practice of voting patterns based on regional connections.

By Cho Kye-wan, staff reporter

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