Uri Party presses for Kaesong goods to be on free trade list with U.S.
Yonhap News, Korea
Uri Party presses for Kaesong goods to be on free trade list with U.S.
26 March 2007
SEOUL, March 26 (Yonhap) — The pro-government Uri Party on Monday called on negotiators of the free trade agreement (FTA) talks between South Korea and the U.S. to include goods produced in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, located in North Korea, as part of the deal.
South Korea’s demand to have Kaesong-produced goods treated as made in the South is one of contentious issues opposed by the U.S. The final FTA negotiations began in Seoul early in the day as negotiators raced to beat an end-of-month deadline.
Chairman Chung Sye-kyun pressed for the inclusion of the Kaesong complex in the imminent deal after returning from his visit, along with other lawmakers, to the Kaesong complex, located just a few kilometers north of the inter-Korean border.
"I have a conviction that in the free trade talks there should be considerations about the Kaesong complex issue. Because (the recognition) is believed to be a landmark event for a greater success of our Kaesong industrial complex, I’d like to make it very clear," Chung told reporters in the South’s customs office.
Along with tours to the North’s scenic Mount Geumgang, the Kaesong complex is one of two flagship projects that the South operates with the North with an eye toward reunification. Twenty-one South Korean factories there employ over 11,000 North Korean workers, who produce garments, utensils and other goods using skilled but cheap labor. The complex is to be expanded in April, at which time more workers will be hired.
Chung’s visit to Kaesong, where he was accompanied by about 80 Uri lawmakers and party officials, came amid the North’s recent opening of its doors for the pro-government party. A series of Uri officials has now visited the North, starting with former Prime Minister and Uri lawmaker Lee Hae-chan early this month. Other lawmakers are scheduled to visit in the coming weeks, thanks to the progress in the six-party talks in Beijing on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and the subsequent positive impact on inter-Korean relations.
However, the North rejected a request to visit by Rep. Jung Hyung-keun, who has been a hard-line critic toward the communist country in the conservative Grand National Party.
