1. At the regular meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on November 23, professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and former Minister for Trade Kim Hyun-jong was formally appointed as a member of the WTO Appellate Body.

° Professor Kim will serve an once-extendable four-year term in the Appellate Body from December 1.

° Professor Kim, who had gained extensive experience by serving as a member of the WTO Secretariat as well as the Republic of Korea’s Minister for Trade and Ambassador to the UN, successfully demonstrated to the WTO member states his eligibility and differentiated levels of qualifications from those of other candidates.

2. The appointment of professor Kim to the WTO Appellate Body is expected to help enhance the ROK’s standing in the international community, help normalize the Body, where vacant positions have caused operational vacuum, and thereby help further strengthen the multilateral trade regime led by the WTO and based on international norms, amid intensifying trade protectionist moves of late by individual countries.


* unofficial translation