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US-Korea

The US-Korea free trade agreement (or KORUS FTA, as called in Korea) has been one of the most controversial since NAFTA, if one could measure in terms of social mobilisation. Millions of people have fought against this deal, taking to the streets and flying across the Pacific to try to defeat it.

Washington and Seoul talked about a possible free trade agreement for several years before anything got started. As it turns out, the US had four preliminary demands for the Korean government to fulfil before any FTA talks could start. The four prerequisites were:

 suspending regulations on pharmaceutical product prices so US drug firms could get a better deal in the Korean market (secured in October 2005)
 easing government regulations on gas emissions in imported US cars so that more American cars could be sold in Korea (secured in November 2005)
 resuming importation of US beef, which were stopped in 2003 because of mad cow disease in the US (agreed in January 2006) and
 reducing South Korea’s compulsory film quota for cinemas from 146 days per year to 73 days so that more American films could be shown (agreed in January 2006).

Once the Roh administration caved in to the last item, the two governments announced, on 2 February 2006, that FTA talks would start in May 2006 and end by June 2007.

The implications of the US-Korea FTA stretch far beyond Korean movie houses as the agreement would open the entire Korean economy to US corporate penetration. Korean farmers and workers organised a strenuous resistance to the deal, with support from actors, students, health professionals, consumers groups, environmental organisation, veterinarians, lawyers and other sectors. Alliances were also built with opponents to the deal in the US, including AFL-CIO, the country’s largest labour union.

The first round of negotiations took place in the US on 5-9 June 2006. Ten months and eight formal rounds (not to mention numerous side talks on side agreements) later, the deal was concluded on 2 April 2007 in Seoul, just hours after a Korean taxi driver commited self-immolation in protest to the signing.

This was not the end, however. Two weeks later, newly elected Korean President Lee Myung-Bak travelled to Washington to sign the FTA. While there, on 18 April, the two governments inked yet another side deal that the US insisted was necessary for the FTA to go through. This deal laid out explicit rules on how Korea was to open its market in the broadest way to US beef imports, despite concerns about mad cow disease. The adoption of this secret pact triggered off what became known as the "beef crisis" in Korea. Students, mothers and consumers raised a fury of candlelight protests and other actions that by June 2008 had ministers resigning and the president own tenure under threat.

After several more years of sustained opposition to the agreement, the US-Korea FTA was finally ratification by both countries’ parliaments and took effect in November 2011 However opposition to, and concerns about the FTA have not faded since it passed, with many worried about the implications of the investor-state dispute mechanism in the deal.

last update: May 2012

Photo: Joe Mabel / CC BY-SA 3.0


Trump’s imposition of trade barriers rendering the KORUS FTA obsolete
“Trump’s unilateral imposition of import restrictions on South Korean products is revealing the vulnerabilities of the KORUS-FTA, which has accomplished absolutely nothing. At the time of the negotiations in 2007, the agreement to open markets to a great extent to the US’s massive economic bloc was both advantageous to South Korean exports because of the size of the American market but also made it possible for the US to push us around because of its asymmetric strength. Trump’s actions are showing the limitations of that, says expert.
S. Korea will negotiate US steel tariffs during FTA talks: minister
South Korea will negotiate with the United States over proposed tariffs on imported steel in upcoming negotiations to amend the bilateral free trade agreement to help minimize its impact on the Korean steel industry.
Moon sees Korea-US FTA as unfair deal: Cheong Wa Dae
The president believes the Korea-US FTA is unfair largely in that the FTA precedes all other laws in South Korea, but in the US, federal law comes before the FTA
Korea, US wrap up 2nd round of FTA talks
Negotiators from South Korea and the United States failed to narrow differences over key trade issues in their second round of talks to amend the countries’ bilateral free trade pact.
S. Korea raises safeguard issue in 2nd FTA talks with US
South Korea raised trade remedy issues during the second round of talks to amend its free trade agreement with the United States in response to Washington’s slapping steep safeguard tariffs on washers and solar panels.
Korea, US to hold 2nd round of FTA renegotiation talks next week
The two-day talks come days after US President Donald Trump again denounced the free trade deal as "a disaster" for the US, claiming the deal cost 200,000 American jobs.
Bumpy road ahead for S. Korea-US FTA renegotiation: senior official
A bumpy road lies ahead for the renegotiation of the free trade deal between South Korea and the United States, a Korean senior trade official said.
South Korea on alert for ’US bullying’ during trade talks
Seoul, wary of giving into US demands, will seek to limit the number of overall concessions.
Seoul, Washington to kick off FTA talks next week
South Korea and the United States are to start the first round of negotiations to amend their bilateral Free Trade Agreement on Jan. 5 in Washington.
Korea to protect agro products in FTA renegotiation
The government will protect sensitive industries such as agriculture in the upcoming negotiation with the United States over revision of the bilateral trade pact.

    Links


  • AMCHAM Korea
    The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea
  • Ben Muse - KORUS FTA
    A blog with a large number of links and references to the US-Korea FTA talks and analyses about them.
  • KAWAN
    Korean Americans Against War and Neoliberalism
  • Korea Policy Institute
    The US-based Korea Policy Institute produces policy briefs, organizes Congressional press briefings and sponsors policy roundtable on the proposed US-South Korea Free Trade Agreement.
  • Korean Civil Society Coalition against KORUS FTA on Intellectual Property Rigthts
    Korean Civil Society Coalition against KORUS FTA on Intellectual Property Rigthts (KCSC) is deeply worried about the Korea-US FTA negotiations especially on the issue of IPRs such as copyright, patent and trademark and strongly opposes the whole process of Korea-US FTA negotiations.
  • US-Korea FTA Business Council
    The US-Korea FTA Business Coalition is a group of over 100 leading US companies and trade associations that strongly support the conclusion and passage of a free trade agreement between the United States and the Republic of Korea.
  • VoiceofPeople
    The VoiceofPeople is a progressive internet press outfit in Korea covering the FTA struggle.