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US-Korea

The US-Korea free trade agreement (or KORUS FTA, as called in Korea) has been one of the most controversial since NAFTA, if one could measure in terms of social mobilisation. Millions of people have fought against this deal, taking to the streets and flying across the Pacific to try to defeat it.

Washington and Seoul talked about a possible free trade agreement for several years before anything got started. As it turns out, the US had four preliminary demands for the Korean government to fulfil before any FTA talks could start. The four prerequisites were:

 suspending regulations on pharmaceutical product prices so US drug firms could get a better deal in the Korean market (secured in October 2005)
 easing government regulations on gas emissions in imported US cars so that more American cars could be sold in Korea (secured in November 2005)
 resuming importation of US beef, which were stopped in 2003 because of mad cow disease in the US (agreed in January 2006) and
 reducing South Korea’s compulsory film quota for cinemas from 146 days per year to 73 days so that more American films could be shown (agreed in January 2006).

Once the Roh administration caved in to the last item, the two governments announced, on 2 February 2006, that FTA talks would start in May 2006 and end by June 2007.

The implications of the US-Korea FTA stretch far beyond Korean movie houses as the agreement would open the entire Korean economy to US corporate penetration. Korean farmers and workers organised a strenuous resistance to the deal, with support from actors, students, health professionals, consumers groups, environmental organisation, veterinarians, lawyers and other sectors. Alliances were also built with opponents to the deal in the US, including AFL-CIO, the country’s largest labour union.

The first round of negotiations took place in the US on 5-9 June 2006. Ten months and eight formal rounds (not to mention numerous side talks on side agreements) later, the deal was concluded on 2 April 2007 in Seoul, just hours after a Korean taxi driver commited self-immolation in protest to the signing.

This was not the end, however. Two weeks later, newly elected Korean President Lee Myung-Bak travelled to Washington to sign the FTA. While there, on 18 April, the two governments inked yet another side deal that the US insisted was necessary for the FTA to go through. This deal laid out explicit rules on how Korea was to open its market in the broadest way to US beef imports, despite concerns about mad cow disease. The adoption of this secret pact triggered off what became known as the "beef crisis" in Korea. Students, mothers and consumers raised a fury of candlelight protests and other actions that by June 2008 had ministers resigning and the president own tenure under threat.

After several more years of sustained opposition to the agreement, the US-Korea FTA was finally ratification by both countries’ parliaments and took effect in November 2011 However opposition to, and concerns about the FTA have not faded since it passed, with many worried about the implications of the investor-state dispute mechanism in the deal.

last update: May 2012

Photo: Joe Mabel / CC BY-SA 3.0


Defense of FTA with US - positive attitude needed to persuade people
A presidential senior secretary strongly defended Korea’s move to sign a free trade deal with the United States by saying that the deal, if successfully concluded, would pull the nation into the ranks of advanced countries.
Choeng Wa Dae remarks on FTA are only a start
President Roh Moo-hyun’s public relations secretary Lee Baek-man has rejected criticism from circles close to the government that a planned free-trade agreement with the US would amount to selling out the nation.
Roh’s spokesman defends FTA with United States
The Korean government has rolled up its sleeves to win over public support for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, as it is faced with more and more voices worrying about its possible negative implications.
Rice market opening is must for FTA: US
A key US negotiator reaffirmed Wednesday that a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea means opening up its rice market.
Anti-FTA unionists attack White House web site
An estimated 3,000 Korean unionists in the information and technology sector have tried to flood the e-mail box of US President George W Bush with bulk messages in protest of the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks.
Opposition lawmaker cries foul over FTA
An opposition party lawmaker Tuesday raised suspicions that the government tried to fabricate the estimated trade balance over a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States in order to gain favorable public opinion.
Mexico, Canada have seen few benefits in US FTA, says report
A state-run research center said Monday that some of the countries that signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States have lost their export competitiveness.
Government faces revolt over free-trade deal with US
The Korean government is reportedly considering setting up a special public relations office just to deal with opposition to the FTA. That opposition is expected to intensify after the upcoming local elections and probably right up to the US-proposed deadline for negotiations in March 2007. In the process, it could also spill over into intense social conflict in Korea.
Anti-FTA faction to launch cyber attack on US
The IT labor union, part of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, has announced its plans to paralyze the homepages of the U.S. Department of Defense, the Whitehouse and President George Bush, by sending a flood of some 30,000 e-mails at 6pm on Tuesday 11 April.
S. Korea seeks exception for rice in US FTA
It is Korea’s livestock industries, not the rice market, which are feared would be hit the hardest by the FTA.

    Links


  • AMCHAM Korea
    The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea
  • Ben Muse - KORUS FTA
    A blog with a large number of links and references to the US-Korea FTA talks and analyses about them.
  • KAWAN
    Korean Americans Against War and Neoliberalism
  • Korea Policy Institute
    The US-based Korea Policy Institute produces policy briefs, organizes Congressional press briefings and sponsors policy roundtable on the proposed US-South Korea Free Trade Agreement.
  • Korean Civil Society Coalition against KORUS FTA on Intellectual Property Rigthts
    Korean Civil Society Coalition against KORUS FTA on Intellectual Property Rigthts (KCSC) is deeply worried about the Korea-US FTA negotiations especially on the issue of IPRs such as copyright, patent and trademark and strongly opposes the whole process of Korea-US FTA negotiations.
  • US-Korea FTA Business Council
    The US-Korea FTA Business Coalition is a group of over 100 leading US companies and trade associations that strongly support the conclusion and passage of a free trade agreement between the United States and the Republic of Korea.
  • VoiceofPeople
    The VoiceofPeople is a progressive internet press outfit in Korea covering the FTA struggle.