Civic groups continue rally against SK-US trade deal
The Hankyoreh | 4 April 2007
Civic groups continue rally against S.K.-U.S. trade deal
Quarantine, auto, agricultural sectors targeted in particular
With South Korea and the United States forging a free trade agreement on April 2, civic groups here were ratcheting up their opposition to the economic pact, blaming the government for "giving up our sovereignty in return for nothing."
Negotiators from Seoul and Washington finally wrapped up 13 months of difficult talks on the FTA, designed to break down tariffs and other trade barriers between the two economic powers.
In response, the Korean Alliance against KorUS FTA and another progressive civic group held an emergency meeting on April 3 in which participants reviewed and analyzed the contents of the trade pact.
"Based on our review, South Korea accepted 90 percent of the U.S.’s demands in the FTA," Lee Hae-yeong, a professor at Hanshin University, told the participants of the meeting. "Things have not ended, as Democratic Party lawmakers of the U.S. issued a statement opposing the deal, in particular regarding the automotive and textile sectors, and virtually demanding the resumption of negotiations," the professor continued.
Beef and quarantine sector
Park Sang-pyo, chief editor of VETNEWS, a journal by a group of veterinarian activists, said, "If we lift restrictions on U.S. beef altogether, it would deal a huge blow to the local market by forcing a price cut of 21 percent for Korean calves and 5.1 percent for cattle. Gradual elimination of tariffs will also aggravate the situation, with around 200 to 300 billion won [US$213 to 319 million] of damage expected to be inflicted upon local farmers in total."
Park continued by saying that the government is putting the health and life of its own people in jeopardy by accepting U.S. demands to ease quarantine standards and restrictions on imported meat that has a "potentially high risk" of mad cow disease.
Automobile sector
Elimination of tariffs on automobiles under the terms of the FTA will not encourage local carmakers to increase their local production, as most are seeking to move their plants to the U.S., activists said.
"Though both sides agreed to lift the 25-percent tariff imposed on trucks imported into the U.S., it would not translate into a spike in Korean exports, since local carmakers do not export any trucks to the U.S. in the first place," said Park Geun-tae, an official of a metal workers’ union.
Agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors
"As the government agreed to give up its drug price-optimization plans under the national healthcare system, while at the same time extending the patent period on innovative drugs, it will end up increasing medical costs to individuals by 1 trillion won over the next five years," said Woo Seok-gyun, an official of the Korean Federation of Medical Groups for Health Rights.
Choi Jae-gwan, an official at a group representing farmers, said, "The government said that it has succeeded in protecting the local rice market. But rice was not part of the negotiations in the first place." The farmer continued, "This [FTA] is no less than an act defrauding the entire nation. In five years, we will not be able to see any farmers in South Korea."
Country-of-origin issue for Gaeseong products
Woo Won-shik, a lawmaker of the pro-government Uri Party, told the meeting, "Though the Gaeseong (Kaesong) Industrial Complex carries a great deal of significance as a symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation, the efforts to include products manufactured there as South Korea-made will face a tough road, as both sides put their own preconditions into the FTA. We will scrutinize the contents of the FTA during the parliamentary session."
A difficult road ahead
Participants at the meeting warned that the pact faces a great deal of obstacles, as so many people are voicing opposition to it.
Jeong Seung-il, a researcher currently focused on the FTA, said that "the people’s positions toward the FTA do not merely fall along progressive and conservative lines; rather, they depend on what sectors the people base their livelihood upon. We will not be able to block ratification by the National Assembly unless we persuade all of those that will be affected by the pact, whether progressive or conservative, to join the anti-FTA campaign."
Choi Tae-wook, a professor at Hallym University, said, "As people opposing the FTA already outnumber its proponents, it will not be that easy for the trade deal to get ratified in the National Assembly."
