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Korea

A new fast track for unfair trade
9-Feb-2007 TomPaine.com
If a US-Korea trade deal is signed next week, Congress has an opportunity to vote it down. Social movements in South Korea and the United States must ensure that Congress is not reading outdated rhetoric claiming the limitless benefits of free capital.
Cattle farmers protest US-South Korea beef talks
8-Feb-2007 Houston Chronicle
Korean cattle farmers protested today as US and South Korean officials discussed easing restrictions on imports of American beef, an issue Washington says threatens to scuttle a possible free trade agreement.
Korea, Canada make progress on farm issues in FTA talks
6-Feb-2007 Korea Times
Korea and Canada have made progress on agricultural issues in their latest free trade talks, brightening the prospect for a formal agreement, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forest said Tuesday in Seoul.
Pros and cons waging ad war on FTA
6-Feb-2007 Korea Times
Proponents and opponents of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States are waging a war through advertisements to win the hearts and minds of the Korean public.
EU-Korea FTA prospects good: envoy
5-Feb-2007 Korea Herald
"Everything will be on the table" when Korea and the European Union start official negotiations for a free trade agreement in March, said EU Ambassador Brian McDonald.
Court: free trade draft stays under wraps
3-Feb-2007 Hankyoreh
A South Korean court ruled that the government is not required to disclose a current draft of the proposed South Korea-US free trade agreement.
S Korea mulls free trade deal with Gulf states
31-Jan-2007 Times of Oman
South Korea is actively considering forging a free trade agreement with six Gulf nations, its top economic official said Wednesday.
Why Koreans have a beef with free trade
31-Jan-2007 Asia Times
Half the South Korean population is against the FTA, especially workers and farmers who have seen trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement lead to job flight, decaying communities, and increased social polarization. But what really unites Koreans against the FTA is the undemocratic nature of the negotiation process and the threat to South Korea’s national sovereignty.
S. Korea, Canada to have ninth FTA talks next week
27-Jan-2007 Hankyoreh
The South Korean government said Friday it will hold its ninth negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with Canada next week in Vancouver.
Korea-US trade agreement headed for trouble
27-Jan-2007 The Nation
During a trip to South Korea this past autumn I had the opportunity to meet Choi Chan-Sick, a 66-year-old peasant farmer. Figuring me correctly for an American, he hurled a volley of invective at me, the only words of which I could make out were "United States" and "FTA."
EU to focus on regulatory issues in FTA with South Korea
27-Jan-2007 Yonhap
The European Union will focus on regulatory issues in negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea that could be completed in less than two years from the launch of talks, its trade official said Friday.
South Korea to start free trade talks with EU in March
25-Jan-2007 Dow Jones
President Roh Moo-hyun on Tuesday said South Korea will launch free trade talks with the European Union this year.
US reaffirms beef issue must be resolved before FTA conclusion
23-Jan-2007 Yonhap
"The FTA is not going to happen unless the [Korean] market is fully reopened to US beef," says Wendy Cutler, assistant US trade representative.
The US-Korea FTA’s public conclusion
20-Jan-2007 Hankyoreh
The FTA negotiations are nearing an end and, as a result, more Korean citizens are expressing their opposition to it. Even now, however, our government has yet to produce an effective proposal for how it would secure the public’s interest and welfare. Instead, it has actually become more secretive and is trying to quiet the opposition of civil society. Has it given up being a government at all?
‘FTA to force 210,000 to stop rice farming’
18-Jan-2007 Korea Times
A lawmaker claimed Thursday that almost all South Korean rice farmers would lose their jobs if the rice trade were fully liberalized as a result of the free trade agreement (FTA) that is currently under negotiation with the United States.
S Korea retracts key demand on anti-dumping rules: leaked gov’t report
18-Jan-2007 Yonhap
South Korea has virtually retracted its demand for the United States to change its anti-dumping laws, clearing a major obstacle to a proposed free trade agreement between the two countries.
KDLP lawmakers go on a hunger strike against US-Korea FTA
18-Jan-2007 VOP
The Korean Democratic Labor Party’s lawmakers went on a hunger strike against the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement talks in front of the Shila hotel where the talks convened.
SK-US free trade deal would violate 169 Korean laws: critics
17-Jan-2007 Hankyoreh
The Korean government has already promised to the US to revise some of the laws. Cases in point are the fair trade law and the labor law. It will also have to rewrite Korea’s copyright act and patent regulations, and revise domestic law on taxation and real estate.
Thousands of protesters voice opposition to FTA amid bolstered police presence
16-Jan-2007 Yonhap
Thousands of farmers, workers and progressive lawmakers gathered Tuesday afternoon in downtown Seoul to protest ongoing free trade talks between South Korea and the United States, threatening to march to the site of the negotiations despite police warnings.
Anti-FTA groups stage rally
15-Jan-2007 Korea Times
Civic groups and labor unions staged a series of rallies against the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) as new round of FTA talks opened Monday. The anti-FTA groups estimated at about 2 million people will also have a large-scale protest at downtown Seoul on Tuesday.