Yoo
Myung-hee was born in Ulsan, South Korea in 1967 when Korea was
on the verge of high economic growth after having just completed its first 5-year
Economic Development Plan (1962~1966) and had set its main economic policy
on export-led growth. She is the
current Minister for Trade of South Korea. She is
the first woman to hold the position. Over the past 25 years, she
has worked in various government agencies since she passed the Korean state
civil servant exam in 1991.
After further
organizational restructuring at the Korean government in 2013, the Ministry
of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) were formed. Yoo was transferred
back to MOTIE, where she continued to expand her career as “the first female
Director-General”, “the first female Deputy Minister for Trade” and “the first
female Minister for Trade”. As a result of these accomplishments, she has
earned the nickname “the glass-ceiling breaker”.
In 2015, Yoo was appointed as the Director-General for FTA Negotiations
and East Asia FTA. As Chief Negotiator for Korea, Yoo played a role in
finalizing the Korea-China FTA negotiations, which entered into effect in 2015.
In 2018 she was promoted to the position of Deputy Minister for Trade
and successfully served as Chief Negotiator for the KORUS FTA amendment
negotiations, playing the role of “Devil’s Advocate” while working alongside
Trade Minister Kim Hyun-jong while assisting him in the team. The role of
Devil’s Advocate is well known as a useful tool in trade negotiations to
prevent a group from leaning only to one side
In 2019, Yoo was appointed as Minister for Trade. As Minister for Trade,
Yoo played a key role in the conclusion of text-based negotiations for
the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2019,
providing viable alternatives to reach a common ground among participating
countries at varying levels of development.
In addition, she has concluded the Korea-UK FTA in 2019, taking into
consideration various Brexit scenarios
into the agreement. She also concluded the Korea-Indonesia CEPA that
featured a strong chapter on bilateral cooperation.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Yoo introduced in June 2020 the
“Post COVID-19 Trade Policy” to reset Korea’s trade policy in response to
changes in the international trade environment. In this initiative, she
emphasized international cooperation and rule-setting in particular, in light
of advancing the digital economy and recognizing and embracing the evolving
global value chain for better recognition and utilization by stakeholders and
industries.
In June 2020, the Republic of Korea officially nominated Yoo as the
country’s candidate for the Director-General of the World Trade
Organization and Yoo officially declared her bid to run for the election.
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