WTO

• ROK - WTO Relations
  • Accession to the GATT : April 14, 1967
  • Accession to the WTO : January 1, 1995
  • Membership : 158 Countries (February  2013)
  • Number of Korean nationals working in the WTO : 5
  • The ROK's share in the WTO : 5,216,955 CHF(2.68%) in 2011
  • ROK-WTO Homepage
  • ROK Statistics
• Ministerial Conference

  Ministerial Conference

  1st	Singapore, 9-13 December 1996	Statement
  2nd	Geneva, 18-20 May 1998	Statement
  3rd	Seattle, November 30-December 3.1999	Statement
  4th	Doha, 9-13 November 2001	Statement
  5th	Cancun, 10-14 September 2003	Statement
  6th	Hong Kong, 13-18 December 2005	Statement
  7th	Geneva, 30 November-2 December 2009	Statement
  8th	Geneva, 15-17 December 2011	Statement

• DDA Negotiations

  At the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001 WTO member governments agreed to launch new negotiations. They also agreed to work on other issues, in particular the implementation of the present agreements. The entire package is called the Doha Development Agenda(DDA).
  
  The DDA Negotiations focus on as follows;Agriculture, NAMA(Non-Agricultural Market Access), Services, Rules, Trade Facilitation, TRIPS, Environment, Development, Dispute Settlement.

• Trade Policy Review

  Trade Policy Reviews focus on members' own trade policies and practices. But they also take into account the countries' wider economic and developmental needs, their policies and objectives, and the external economic environment that they face.
  
  The frequency of the reviews depends on the country's size. The ROK is reviewed every four years.

  • 2012 Korea TPR Secretariat Report
    1. I. Summary Observations
    2. II. Economic Environment
    3. III. Trade Policy Regime
    4. IV. Trade Policies and Practices by Measure
    5. V. Trade Policies by Sector
    6. VI. Appendix Tables
• Dispute Settlement

  As one of the top countries in terms of trade volume, Korea has been involved in a large number of international trade disputes. Especially since the establishment of the WTO, Korea has been actively protecting its trade interests by using the WTO dispute settlement procedure against unfair trade practices of its trading partners and against complaints brought against Korea’s economic system and trade measures. Through the effective use of the WTO dispute settlement process, the Korean government has contributed to directing Korea’s trade policy to conform with international trade standards based on the WTO agreements.
  
  The Korean Government will continue to strive to protect its trade interests and prevent unreasonable import restrictions of other member countries through effective use of the WTO dispute settlement procedure.