Yeo Han-koo, chief trade negotiator at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy [Yonhap]
Yeo Han-koo, chief trade negotiator at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy [Yonhap]

Yeo Han-koo, chief trade negotiator at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said Monday that communication among countries is paramount for trade remedy systems to earn greater trust, calling on nations to share investigation experience and policy directions while strengthening cooperation on emerging challenges such as circumvention dumping.

Yeo made the remarks at the 2026 Trade Remedy Seoul International Forum, hosted by the ministry's Trade Commission at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. "Trade remedy is not a tool for protectionism — it is a system that keeps the door open fairly," he said, adding that the forum provided an opportunity for countries to share their policies and experiences.

Now in its 24th year, the Seoul forum is the world's only international forum dedicated to trade remedy. This year's edition drew about 150 participants, including representatives, investigators and experts from 11 trade remedy authorities — among them the World Trade Organization, the United States, the EU, China and Japan.

The forum was held under the theme "Changes in the Global Trade Environment and New Challenges for Trade Remedy." It reflected growing demand for trade remedy responses as global oversupply, intensifying competition among nations and the expansion of industrial policy in major economies have combined to fuel a rise in unfair trade practices such as dumping.

According to the WTO, the number of new anti-dumping investigations initiated worldwide surged from 89 in 2022 to 375 in 2024, and remained above 300 at 323 last year.

Lee Jae-hyung, chairman of the Trade Commission, said the faster the trade environment changes, the more important it becomes to operate a trade remedy system that industry and markets can trust through objective and impartial investigations.


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