China urges Korea to conclude free trade agreement
Korea Herald - 2006.05.29
China urges Korea to conclude free trade agreement
From news reports
Korea’s Commerce and Industry Minister Chung Sye-kyun and his Chinese counterpart met Saturday in Seoul to exchange views on expanding bilateral economic ties.
At the meeting, Chung and Bo Xilai discussed outstanding issues, with the Chinese minister citing the need to push forward free trade agreement talks. He also outlined his government’s position on special safeguard measures Seoul maintains to guard against a sudden surge in imports from the mainland.
Beijing wants an FTA with Korea to alleviate its chronic trade deficit with its neighbor. Seoul is more reserved on the issue, since it could cause a surge in cheap agricultural produce and light industry goods.
"The Chinese minister asked Seoul to take a more active role in stabilizing labor-management relations, expand benefits for companies investing in the country and ease visa requirements," a spokesman for the ministry said.
He said Chung in return brought up the matter of difficulties encountered by Korean companies doing business in China and the need for more bilateral investment.
"Chung said that differences in policies at the central and regional government levels were a source of confusion for Korean businesses," the spokesman said.
Such discrepancies are a problem for Korean companies, which have invested a total of $14.3 billion into China as of March. China has been the No. 1 foreign investment destination since 2002, surpassing the United States.
In addition, the two policymakers discussed the prospect of setting up of a trade and investment network that can facilitate economic cooperation between the two countries. Vice commerce ministers from Korea and China signed a memorandum of understanding on the network in April.
It is Bo’s third visit to Korea. He not only met Chung, but also Korea’s trade minister and entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, Minister Chung called on Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koziumi to stop visiting Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan’s war dead including convicted war criminals, during a speech to readers of the Nihon Keizai business daily in Tokyo on Friday.
Chung said negotiations for a free trade agreement between Japan and Korea have stalled because the two sides disagree over wartime history.
Tokyo and Seoul agreed in October 2003 to start negotiations on a free trade deal, but talks have been stalled since November 2004 despite earlier agreements to conclude the pact by March 2006.
"When Japan changes its perception toward historical issues, FTA negotiations between Japan and Korea will be boosted," Chung said, according to a summary of his speech posted on the newspaper’s website.
Koizumi’s five shrine visits since 2001 have inflamed tensions between Japan and neighbors Korea and China, which equate the visits with government approval of Tokyo’s military conquests in East Asia in the first half of the 20th century.
The shrine honors Japan’s 2.5 million war dead, including executed World War II war criminals. Koizumi says that he visits Yasukuni to pray for the fallen soldiers and reiterate Japan’s renunciation of war.
Chung also said that the trade deal negotiations have stalled because of "Japan’s stubborn agriculture problem," according to the website. He didn’t elaborate.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry officials refused to comment on which agricultural products are at issue.
Chung met with Japan’s Trade Minister Toshihiro Nikai later Friday and they agreed that the two countries should further promote trade and investment, said Trade Ministry official Takeo Ijuin.
The two ministers agreed that signing a free trade pact is important for both countries, but they did not discuss any details, Ijuin said.
