. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/19 
14 December 2005 
 (05-5992) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session 
Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
 
 
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 
 
Statement by Mr Hyun Chong Kim  
Minister for Trade  
 
 
 I am honoured to be here today for the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference.  On behalf of the 
Korean Government, I would like to express my thanks to the Director-General, Mr Pascal Lamy, and the Chairperson of the General Council, Ambassa dor Amino Mohamed, as well as to Hong Kong's 
Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr  John Tsang and his staff for their dedication 
and hard work in preparing for this Ministerial Conference. 
 
 I would like to begin by extending a wholeh earted welcome to Saudi Arabia, our newest 
Member, and also to Tonga, who will formally join the WTO at this Ministerial Conference.  I believe 
that the membership of these countries will enhan ce the diversity of the WTO and contribute to the 
healthy development of the WTO system. 
 
 Looking back, we have accomplished much sinc e the Cancún Ministerial.  In August 2004, 
we made a meaningful breakthrough by reaching an agreement on the framework for the DDA 
negotiations.  Building on that, we have been nego tiating systematically in key areas, and we are now 
in the process of learning how best to move these negotiations forward so as to benefit all Members, 
in particular developing Members.  I regret that it has become difficult to achieve consensus, at this 
Ministerial, on the main items, such as full moda lities for agriculture and NAMA.  However, based on 
what we have accomplished to date, I am confident that we will be able to make
 significant progress 
early next year.  In order to maintain our high level of ambition for this Round, we need to step up our 
efforts and engage in these negotiations with grea ter commitment.  This is our responsibility and our 
pledge at this Ministerial Conference. 
 
 As you can tell by its very name, the focus of the DDA negotiations is on "development" and 
given that these are the first multilateral trade negotiations to take place since the birth of the WTO, 
they will necessarily be seen as the test case for whether a multilateral trading system can, in fact, 
bring about development.  Korea has a unique expe rience in terms of trade and development under the 
multilateral trading system.  Consequently, Korea know s first hand the benefits of multilateralism and 
the meaning of development throug h trade.  Development assistance including Aid for Trade, debt 
relief and trade are often referred to  as the three elements needed for development.  Of these three, I 
subscribe to the view that more  than 70 per cent of development be nefits come from tr ade.  This is 
true because development is basically a dynami c process and trade fosters this dynamism by 
delivering wide-ranging opportunities.  It is abun dantly clear that the achievement of substantial 
market access in the individual negotiating areas, will provide fertile ground in which development 
can take root.  In this respect, South-South trade has gained more importance than ever before since 
South-South trade now accounts for about 40 per cent of developing countries' total exports and is increasing faster than their tr ade with developed Members. 
 WT/MIN(05)/ST/19 
Page 2  
 
  Of course, special consideration should also be given to developing countries to ease this 
development process.  In this regard, I welcome last  week's progress in Geneva in the area of Public 
Health, as well as the agreement on the extension of the TRIPS implementation period for LDCs.  
Korea, for its part, is ready and w illing to do its best, at this Ministerial, in the collective effort to 
promote the advancement of developing countries and, in particular, LDCs. 
 
 While Korea has developed through multilateral trade, there are still certain areas, including 
agriculture, that remain sensitive in the domestic ar ena.  Accordingly, liberalization in the agricultural 
sector should take place at a pa ce that takes into account these sens itivities.  Other countries are also  
in a similar position in terms of the challenges they face domestically – each WTO Member has its 
own particular sensitivities.  Therefore, if appr opriate consideration c ould be given to these 
sensitivities at a multilateral level, we would be able  to raise the overall level of ambition of these 
negotiations.  Korea believes that the successful conclusion of the DDA hinges on reaching a 
balanced outcome in all negotiating areas.  Especially for Korea, tangible outcome in NAMA, 
services and anti-dumping are indispensable. 
  As this year's APEC host country, Korea made the  contribution of APEC to the DDA a 
priority at this critical juncture.  The expression of support by APEC Trade Ministers in June for a 
Swiss Formula as a tariff reduction formula in NAMA was intended to reinvigorate the Geneva 
process and the APEC leaders' stand-alone statemen t last month provided a strong political message 
for a successful conclusion of the DDA negotiations.  As you know, APEC accounts for 60 per cent of the world's GDP and 54 per cent of trade and its membership encompasses developed, as well as developing countries.  Therefore, this agreement amo ng APEC members is sure to act as a significant 
catalyst in the future course of these negotiations.  
 
 As I mentioned before, this is a critical time for the DDA.  Although we have been unable to 
reach the consensus that had been ou r initial goal, this is a temporary setback that should not seriously 
impact the negotiations overall.  Our hard work to date has not been lost, nor has it been in vain.  As 
in life, it is sometimes necessary to take a small step back in order to make the next leap forward.  If 
we can speed up the pace of these nego tiations early next year based on  this Ministerial, we will move 
closer to our final goal.  I hope  this Ministerial will produce a clear roadmap that will guide us to that 
destination. 
 
 To this end, I call on all Members to put their best foot forward and engage in these 
negotiations with a renewed sense of purpose and commitment. 
  
__________