1. The Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference was held from November 30 to December 2, 2009, 
in Geneva, Switzerland, under the theme of 「The WTO, the Multilateral Trading System and 
the Current Global Economic Environment」. 

 o About 3,000 delegates representing all 153 WTO Members, the 56 observers, NGOs and 
   international organizations participated in the Conference. Representing Korea were 
   Minister for Trade Jong-Hoon Kim as head of delegation (Alternate Head: Vice Minister 
   Young-je Ha of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) and the members 
   of the delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Food, 
   Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Ministry of 
   Knowledge Economy, the Korea Forest Service and the Permanent Mission of the Republic 
   of Korea to the United Nations and International Organizations in Geneva.

※ History of the WTO Ministerial Conference: first meeting (Singapore, 1996), second meeting 
   (Geneva, Switzerland, 1998), third meeting (Seattle, USA, 1999), fourth meeting (Doha, 
   Qatar, 2001), fifth meeting (Cancún, Mexico, 2003), sixth meeting (Hong Kong, 2005)

2. Participating ministers of WTO Members, including Korea, emphasized the need for an early 
conclusion of the DDA negotiations for the recovery of the global economy and to strengthen 
the role of the WTO as a multilateral trading system. They also agreed to cooperate more 
closely to achieve the common aim of sustainable economic development.

3. The main points of the Chairman’s Summary are as follows:
 o The need to conclude DDA negotiations by 2010 reaffirmed
 o Stock-taking exercise to take place in the first quarter of next year
 o Instructing Senior Officials to continue to work to map the road towards the 
    stock-taking exercise

4. Furthermore, Ministers agreed to extend the moratorium on non-violation complaints under 
the TRIPS Agreement and to maintain current practice of not imposing customs duties on 
electronic transmissions until the Eighth WTO 
Ministerial Conference and also decided to hold the next conference at the end of 2011.

5. At the plenary session, Minister for Trade Jong-Hoon Kim stated that, as the host country 
of the G20 Summit in November 2010, Korea will exert its utmost efforts for the early 
conclusion of the DDA negotiations in 2010. The Minister also emphasized the need for the 
DDA negotiations to a “balanced outcome that properly reflects the political and economical 
sensitivities of each Member country.”

 o In addition, the Trade Minister highly noted the WTO’s “effective role in keeping 
   protectionism at bay,” and requested for the WTO to strengthen its role in the 
   ever-changing world of globalization and to contribute to sustainable economic 
   development.

6. Meanwhile, on the occasion of the Ministerial Conference, the Trade Minister had bilateral 
meetings to discuss outstanding trade issues with the ministers of various countries, including 
Canada, Turkey and India. The Trade Minister also participated in the Enhanced Integrated 
Framework (EIF) meeting to raise the effectiveness in supporting the trade developments of 
the least-developed countries. He also attended the luncheons and dinners hosted by the EU, 
Japan and Singapore to discuss the progress of the DDA negotiations with WTO 
Director-General Pascal Lamy and the trade ministers of other countries.                     
     
             Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT

*unofficial translation