- Title: South Korea to give up developing country status in WTO talks
- Date: 25th October 2019
- Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (FILE - 2019) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SOUTH KOREA'S GOVERNMENT COMPLEX BUILDING
- Embargoed: 8th November 2019 03:25
- Keywords: South Korea WTO developing country status finance minister Hong Nam-ki
- Location: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
- City: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
- Country: South Korea
- Topics: Government/Politics,International Trade
- Reuters ID: LVA002B2LGEVB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: South Korea will no longer seek special treatment reserved for developing countries by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in future negotiations given its enhanced global economic status, its Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said on Friday (October 25).
Hong added that this decision is "not to forego the developing country status, but is to not seek any special treatment for the negotiations going forward."
In late July, U.S. President Donald Trump put pressure on the WTO to change how it designates developing countries, singling out China, with which the United States is engaged in a trade war, for unfairly getting preferential treatment. South Korea's developing country status was self-designated.
South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, has maintained its developing country status as a member of the WTO since the body's creation in 1995, mainly to guard its agriculture industry.
(Production: Minwoo Park) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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