Seoul, Washington likely to miss March FTA deadline: report
2006/12/27
Seoul, Washington likely to miss March FTA deadline: report
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Yonhap) — South Korea and the U.S. are expected to miss the March deadline for a free trade agreement (FTA) as their political situations are likely to undergo changes, a report said Wednesday.
According to the report by the Samsung Economic Research Institute, the FTA talks would face challenges especially from the U.S. side since the Democrats took control of the Congress in recent mid-term elections.
"The Democrats are deemed more likely to oppose an FTA with South Korea in line with objection from labor unions," said the institute affiliated with South Korea’s top conglomerate Samsung Group.
South Korea and the U.S. have held talks on an FTA since June, with the fifth and latest round of negotiations held earlier this month in the state of Montana making little progress on pending issues such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.
"At the current pace, the two are not likely to meet the March deadline," an institute researcher said.
Both sides are making efforts to wrap up the negotiations by March next year. The deadline is important since U.S. President George W. Bush’s "fast-track" authority expires on June 30. A 90-day review of a deal is needed for Congress to vote on it without amendments.
The institute also said a lack of consensus in South Korea on a Seoul-Washington FTA and the lame duck phenomenon of South Korea’s Roh Moo-hyun administration will make it tougher to finalize the negotiations by the deadline. The presidential election here is slated for late next year.
As for North Korea’s nuclear issue, the institute said tension on the Korean Peninsula is expected to linger into next year as the six-party talks, which resumed recently after a 13-month hiatus, will not be enough to put an end to Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.
"If the six-party talks collapse this time, it is likely to bring about toughened sanctions by the U.N against the communist regime, which will inevitably raise tension in this region," the institute said.
