About Yoo Myung-hee, Korea Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, and also A Candidate for DG of WTO

 

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.