US FTA team to push for opening of gambling: official
The Hankyoreh | 25 September 2006
U.S. FTA team to push for opening of gambling: official
On list of ‘barred’ items, U.S. plans to ask for access to gambling market, says official
The United States has asked South Korea to open its gambling market during talks for a proposed free trade agreement between the two nations, according to a senior South Korean government official. The South Korean government delivered its opposition to the request, but the issue is expected to emerge as one of the items on the negotiating table at future talks, the official said, asking not to be named.
The Korean government is in an internal review process over the proposal’s impact as well as possible countermeasures, the official said.
During the third round of formal free trade agreement (FTA) talks in Seattle in early this month, the U.S. side requested that South Korea delete the gambling industry as one of the service sectors barred from negotiations, according to the government official.
"Currently, [South Korean] negotiators are trying to figure out the precise intentions of the U.S.," the official said. In addition, sources said that related ministries such as the Ministry of Culture and Tourism have prepared countermeasures for the possible opening of the gambling industry. Accordingly, the issue of opening the gambling industry is slated to appear on the agenda at the upcoming round of FTA beginning October 23, sources said.
According to South Korea’s proposal for the service and investment markets, horse racing and casinos are to be included on a list of "future reservations." These industries are barred from access by the other country. But the U.S. requested South Korea to pull the gambling industry off this list, citing other free trade agreements between the U.S. and other nations, the government official said.
"[The gambling issue] is not at the stage of specific discussion yet, because the U.S. request is so far merely that the gambling industry should be brought to the negotiating table," a working-level official at the Korean negotiating team said, asking not to be named. "However, our position is firm that we won’t open a market that would hurt the public’s interest."
The Hyundai Economic Research Institute estimated recently that horse, bicycle, and boat racing, all of which can be bet upon, as well as the lottery, casinos, and arcades might have seen revenue of up as much as 35 trillion won (US$36 billion) last year, accounting for 4.4 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).
