A front-runner aspiring for the seat in the World Trade Organization (WTO) is set to be revealed today at around 7pm (Korean time) after Yoo Myung-hee (from Korea) and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (from Nigeria) made it as finalists.
The WTO is set to notify its member states of the outcome of the third and last round of consultations.
The global referee of international commerce will first inform South Korea and Nigeria of the outcome and then the rest of WTO member states will be informed about four hours later, diplomatic sources said.
Following the WTO notification on the outcome, South Korea is expected to pull out all the stops to ensure that its ally, the US, and other key partner countries stand in support of its candidate.
A foreign ministry official said “comprehensively factoring in the number of countries in support of us and the overall contours of the selection process, we will do our best during follow-up consultations with member states in the process of building consensus.”
Recall that the former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala was nominated by the president, Muhammadu Buhari on June 5, 2020 for the seat of Director General of World Trade Organisation.
