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South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee announces her candidacy for director-general of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 16. (Yonhap News)

Three female power players in the areas of foreign affairs and international trade are battling in Geneva right now for the leading position in an international organization.

South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, 53, was among eight candidates who announced platforms before the WTO General Council on July 16-17 in a race to become the next director-general (four-year term) of the organization, which includes 164 member states. The following day, they launched an election campaign that will last for around two months. A senior South Korean trade official said a successful run would be a “tremendous achievement for the South Korean economy” and expressed confidence in Yoo’s chances of winning. The South Korean government also shared its strong hopes, adding that it was treating the race “with humility.”

The list of candidates is a fascinating mix. None of the eight candidates hails from the US, the EU, China, Japan, or India. While the regulations for selecting the WTO director-general state that regional distribution is a “consideration,” different regions are not assigned “turns.” Already, the international press and observers in the WTO’s base of Geneva are suggesting the race will come down to three female candidates: Yoo, former World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria, and former WTO Ministerial Conference Chairperson Amina C. Mohamed. Okonjo-Iweala, who is viewed by the international community as a “political heavyweight” with her 25-year history with the World Bank, was the first to complete her registration; Yoo went on to throw her hat in the ring, while Mohamed declared her candidacy in the final stages.

It is unclear whether Yoo was aware ahead of time that Mohamed would be running. Mohamed has been viewed as a powerful heavyweight in international trade, having previously chaired the WTO’s Ministerial Conference in 2015. Commentators said that all three candidates are renowned throughout the world for their characteristic rhetoric and outstanding organizational command. The South Korean government’s election camp is developing a strategy in anticipation of the election becoming a three-way race among the candidates.

All eight of the candidates announced plans to “rescue” the WTO from its longstanding lethargy. Their calls for reviving and restoring the WTO echo the religious reforms proclaimed in Geneva by John Calvin 500 years earlier. Yoo called the current situation an “emergence in which the fate of the sinking WTO ship is at stake” and urged voters to choose her “for the sake of free and open trade and the continued existence of a multilateral trade regime.” Okonjo-Iweala announced her aims of playing a mediating role between the US and China, while Mohamed declared that she would re-initiate negotiations toward establishing a new trade order and norms.

Launched in 1995 after the Uruguay Round (UR) of negotiations as a successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) formed under the Breton Woods system shortly after World War II, the WTO has long suffered from impotence issues. The root cause of its torpor has been countries seeking to uphold their own interests on a stage of conflict, friction, and noncompliance, as opposed to an environment of agreements, concessions, and compliance based on harmonious trade negotiations among countries.

The Doha Development Agenda (DDA) trade negotiations ended in failure, effectively breaking down after continuing for over a decade. Even the Appellate Body -- a dispute settlement institution that represented the organization’s last remaining key function -- has been essentially shut down as the US has rejected nominee after nominee for the new panel. Its current situation is exemplified by the fact that the international trade issues that the WTO should be supervising are discussed instead by different organizations such as the G7 group.

Will Japan actually resort to dirty tactics to sabotage Yoo’s candidacy? A South Korean government official said, “The Japanese government’s official position is along the lines that it will ‘actively participate in the selection process to ensure that an excellent candidate is chosen.’ The likelihood of a campaign to eliminate one particular candidate is low, and with the system based on unanimous selection, Japan has little cause to oppose [Yoo] to the end with its one final vote.

Once a general consensus forms, even the countries that were opposed end up working in concert.” The WTO’s dominant players -- the US, the European Union, and China, which command enormous influence -- are very likely to keep their cards close to their vest before sharing their views in the late stages. The selection of the WTO director-general is a process in which candidates with little support among member countries and little chance of winning drop out one by one along the way, leaving a final candidate who is elected unanimously. Some observers are predicting the member countries could postpone the decision until after the US presidential election on Nov. 3.

This week, the candidates have been liaising individually with different countries’ trade officials at the Geneva headquarters to call for their support. A South Korean government official said that “all government agencies -- not just the ones related to trade -- will be staging an all-out campaign for [Yoo’s] election.” Blue House National Security Office Second Deputy Director Kim Hyun-chong, a well-known figure with a wide circle of connections in the international trade world, is expected to play a behind-the-scenes role throughout the campaign; if Yoo makes it to the final stages, South Korean President Moon Jae-in is seen as likely to call on member country leaders to support her. Yoo worked in the WTO division as her very first assignment as a government official after passing the civil service examination.

By Cho Kye-wan, staff reporter

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