South Korea, Japan fail to agree on free-trade talks
Bloomberg 21 Apr 2008
South Korea, Japan Fail to Agree on Free-Trade Talks
By Heejin Koo
April 21 (Bloomberg) — South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda failed to agree on resuming negotiations for a free-trade agreement when they met today in Tokyo for their first official summit.
The Asian neighbors will discuss in June the possibility of resuming talks on the trade deal that could boost bilateral trade currently worth $83 billion, according to a joint press statement. The talks have been stalled for three years.
The two leaders formed a consensus that a free-trade agreement would play an important role in strengthening the two nations' economies, and decided to hold a working-level meeting to review the resumption of negotiations,'' the statement said.
Lee's meeting with Fukuda comes two days after a five-day visit to the U.S., where he discussed trade with U.S. President George W. Bush and congressional leaders. Lee wants more cooperation between South Korean, Japanese and U.S. companies as he seeks foreign investment to help boost his country's economy. Progress in the Japanese deal is unlikely during this visit, an analyst said.A trade agreement between Korea and Japan is a completely different matter, compared to the Korea-U.S. FTA,’’ said Cheong Inkyo, an economics professor at Inha University in Incheon. Korea and the U.S. approached talks with clear will to see it through to the end, whereas in the case of the Korea-Japan talks, the Japanese have been painfully hesitant in their approach.''
{{`Working Toward' Negotiations}}
Japan will limit free-trade talks toworking toward recommencing negotiations,’’ a Japanese Foreign Ministry official told reporters during an April 17 briefing on the visit.
There are sensitive areas, such as agriculture and fisheries, that require tough tariff talks,'' he said.
Relations between the Asian neighbors have been strained since Japan's occupation of South Korea from 1910 to 1945.
Fukuda's falling popularity and lack of support within his ruling Liberal Democratic Party prevents him from making progress on trade talks with Lee, said Natsuo Hayashi, an associate professor of international relations at the University of Toyama.Fukuda’s shaky standing will keep the visit from reaching its full potential,’’ he said. Fukuda lacks the leadership to convince anti-free trade members of his own party otherwise.''
The prime minister's support dropped to 25 percent in an Asahi newspaper poll released today, down from 31 percent in March and lower than his predecessor Shinzo Abe's approval rating when he resigned in September. A Yomiuri newspaper survey published March 24 showed that 88.7 percent of respondents didn't knowwhat kind of government Fukuda hoped to achieve.’’
Business Leaders
Lee will also meet with members of Japan’s largest business lobby, known as Keidanren, and attend a luncheon with about 300 Japanese and Korean corporate leaders.
South Korean officials have also said that resuming talks would be difficult unless Japan is willing to show clear signs that it is serious about negotiations.
We can't resume talks just for the sake of resuming talks, only to have them break down thereafter,'' Ahn Ho Young, South Korean Deputy Minister for Trade, told reporters in Seoul on March 27.The stumbling blocks in these talks involve agricultural products, government procurement issues, non-tariff barriers and industrial cooperation. Still, we do realize that having the talks on limbo benefits neither side.’’
