China News Service, October 26. According to Kyodo News on the 25th, several Japanese government sources revealed that the Japanese government has recently decided not to support South Korean candidate Yu Myung Hee’s election as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the grounds Once she takes office, she may be detrimental to Japan in the Japan-South Korea trade dispute.
According to reports, the Japanese government believes that as South Korea is currently suing Japan in the WTO for the trade dispute between the two countries, once Yu Mingxi comes to power, the fairness of the dispute settlement procedures may be affected.
For this reason, the Japanese side decided not to support Yu Mingxi, but will fully support Nigerian candidate Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
According to reports, Japan intends to convey the above position to the WTO in the near future.
In May 2020, the sixth WTO Director-General Azevedo decided to leave early at the end of August.
In July, a total of 8 candidates were formally nominated and participated in the election of WTO Director-General.
After two rounds of negotiations, Nigerian candidate Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and South Korean candidate Yu Myung He entered the "finals" on October 8. The final result is expected to be produced in early November.