Seoul rules out win-lose FTA with United States
Korea Times
Seoul Rules Out Win-Lose FTA With United States
By Kim Sung-jin, Staff Reporter
17 April 2006
South Korea will not rush through its free trade agreement (FTA) deal with the United States so as to make the bilateral pact a win-lose deal for Korea rather than a win-win treaty.
The time frame for the conclusion of the Korea-U.S. FTA will be determined according to the outcome of a series of negotiations and the two countries neither have set a deadline nor reached an agreement on a target date for completing the FTA talks,'' Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong said in a meeting with foreign journalists here.
Kim said Korea has to take into account that it would be difficult to ink the bilateral FTA with the U.S. when the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), or fast track authority, expires on July 1 next year.
The TPA is an authority to negotiate trade agreements granted by the U.S. Congress to President George W. Bush that will expire on July 1, 2007.
When the two countries fail to meet the time limit, both will lose their chances to take advantage of the TPA that eases otherwise harsh scrutiny of the bilateral FTA deal by the U.S. Congress, which would be very time consuming.Our government will take into account the expiration date of the TPA but under no circumstances will Korea push for a swift conclusion of the FTA deal on the expense of our own interests,’’ Kim told the reporters.
He added that President Roh Moo-hyun also ordered a negotiation directive for Korea-U.S. FTA talks last February that Korean negotiators should not fall into a trap of the merit-based performance rating system pressured by the idea that they must clinch the deal with within the time limit.
Kim said Korea would sign an FTA with the U.S. only if it succeeds in deriving a balance of interests between Korea and the U.S.
Kim emphasized the importance of Korea-U.S. FTA for the Korean economy and security, saying that the Korean government’s decision to pursue the deal with the U.S. was based on a careful strategic review.
Kim said, therefore, his ministry, together with the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) and other ministries and the National Assembly, will do its best to conclude the deal by March next year, noting that 14 months of FTA talks is not a short time, as reported by the local new media.
Kim’s comments came as Seoul and Washington were to hold a second round of preliminary talks on the same day in Washington.
Seoul and Washington have less than one year to seal the trade accord.
