WTO DG: Path Clears For Okonjo-Iweala As South Korea’s Candidate, Yoo Myung-hee Drops Out Of Race
South Korean Trade Minister, Yoo Myung-hee has withdrawn her bid to become World Trade Organisation’s next director-general.
The latest development leaves former Nigerian Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the only remaining candidate for the job, Bloomberg reports.
Yoo was said to have made the decision after discussions with the United States and other major nations, and took various issues into account “comprehensively” including the need to revitalize the multilateral organization, according to a statement from Korea’s trade ministry on Friday.
Read Also: WTO: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Advances To Final Stage
The Trade Minister at a press briefing said;
Due to the prolonged vacancy of the leadership at the WTO, the future of the organization also has become uncertain.
To speed up the consensus-building among the member countries on selecting a new director-general, I have decided to renounce my candidacy through close cooperation with the United States, our strong ally.
Washington, which showed strong support for my candidacy, also respects the decision to step down from the race.
This means that Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is now the sole candidate left in the race and she is expected to be appointed as the new DG of WTO, following the resignation of Roberto Azevedo.
The Nigerian economist, who is also a US citizen, emerged as the front-runner for the WTO director-general post last year after securing the popular vote by a wide margin.
She was however not named DG because the US opposed her candidacy despite WTO confirming that Okonjo-Iweala had the best chance of getting a consensus.
Read Also: US Opposes Appointment Of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala As WTO’s Director General
However, US under the administration for former President Donald Trump had said it favoured Yoo over Okonjo-Iweala because WTO is in dire need of reform and must be “led by someone with real, hands-on experience in the field”.
There had been speculations in some quarters that the US would change its stance after Joe Biden won the US election, defeating Donald Trump.
The two women are the last candidates standing and the eventual winner will set a record as being the first female WTO DG.
