FTA can be worse than IMF for South Koreans
Posted in Politics on January 25th, 2007I have been trying to find out what happened with the 6th Korea/US FTA negotiation which just ended. However, there is little coverage in the western media except one tiny article (With New Urgency, U.S. and South Korea seek Free Trade Deal) from the NY times (Jan 16, 2007)
I found more detailed information through a few Korean news sources and it doesn’t look good for Korea. Like any other typical FTA “negotiation,” the U.S. has been strongly demanding Korea to open various markets such as agriculture including beef, services, intellectual property rights etc.
Korean Alliance against KorUS FTA told that Korea dosen’t have any proposals to leverage the negotiation. A report written by 17 experts indicates that about 15 percent, or 169, of the 1,163 domestic laws conflict with the contents of the FTA negotiations which means that Korean domestic law will need to be amended to align with the FTA.
An example that proves this point: one study suggests that 15 percent of Korean laws would conflict with an FTA with the U.S. The Korean Constitution stipulates that even without the passage of additional legislation, any international treaty ratified by the National Assembly is as valid as domestic law. What that means is that the moment a free trade pact is signed with the U.S., 169 Korean laws would be incapacitated. Each is a law that has been enacted amid conflicting interests, after considerable discussion, agonizing, and compromise: a process surely causing political conflict.
Just think about what happened in Mexico, Argentina, etc. Based on their experiences, Koreans need to continue to mobilize citizens and fight against the FTA.
More articles on Korea/US FTA
U.S. reaffirms beef issue must be resolved before FTA conclusion