1. The WTO General Council Special Meeting will be held on June 25, 2001. High-level officials from
member countries will attend the Meeting to discuss launching the New Round of Negotiations at the fourth
WTO Ministerial Meeting, which will be held from November 9 to 13, 2001. From the Republic of Korea, Mr.
Choi Hyuck, Deputy Minister for Trade, will attend this Meeting.
2. At present, most WTO member countries support the launch of the New Round of Negotiations.
Consultations are being held to resolve differences in views on the New Round agenda and the
implementation of the Uruguay Round Negotiation results, in which the developing countries are most
interested. The purpose of this General Council Special Meeting is to provide a forum for dialogue among
high-level officials, so that it can contribute to working out a compromised agreement and to securing
support for launching the New Round of negotiations.
3. At this Meeting, Korea will emphasize that a comprehensive agenda, which includes the issues of revising
the anti-dumping agreement and establishing a multilateral agreement on investment, must be adopted to
launch the New Round of Negotiations. The WTO attempted launching the New Round of negotiations at the
third WTO Ministerial Meeting, which was held in November 1999 in Seattle, but it had failed because
members were not able to agree on the agenda.
Spokesperson of MOFAT
* unofficial translation