US wants stern regulations on S Korean conglomerates
KBS WORLD Radio, Korea
US Wants Stern Regulations on S. Korean Conglomerates
6 September 2006
The United States was confirmed to have asked South Korea to include regulations on conglomerates in their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
The nation’s top negotiator to the FTA talks with the U.S. Kim Jong-hoon told reporters in Seattle Wednesday that the U.S. had made the request ahead of the third round of FTA discussions, claiming that South Korean conglomerates known as chaebol are hurting markets’ fair competition. Kim sa
Kim said Seoul had explained that the South Korean government has already placed appropriate regulations on chaebol, including fair trade laws and an equity investment ceiling. He added that at times large firms, on the contrary, face major discrimination from such regulations.
Kim also said that the U.S. had stressed the need to conduct more research in the event that a public firm’s business activities do not conform to the principles set up at the time of the firm’s establishment.
Meanwhile, Kim said the third round of trade talks will mainly focus on narrowing differences over tariff concession lists and whether to reserve investment in the service sector.
