ISDS Case Map
Korea
A group of 23 young lawmakers of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) on Thursday declared they will boycott the parliamentary vote if the party's leadership attempts to railroad a Korea-U.S. free trade bill, saying they are opposed to any arbitrary legislation by a single party.
Barely six months ago, Taiwan's industrialists were jubilant. The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which the island signed with mainland China, was celebrated as a blow against trade arch-rival South Korea.
The Lee Myung-bak administration and the ruling Grand National Party are at loggerheads over how to get ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement through the National Assembly.
President Lee Myung-bak assured South Koreans Monday of long-term benefits from a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, saying it will not only expand South Korea's economic domain but also bolster the Seoul-Washington military alliance, Yonhap news agency reported.
In their South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) renegotiations, South Korea and the United States agreed to draft and submit an additional accord to their respective legislative bodies that includes full-scale revisions to the auto provisions of the previous agreement formally signed in 2007.
The chargé d'affaires of the European Union delegation to Korea said Thursday that the EU will not demand renegotiation of its free trade deal with Seoul in the wake of Korea’s additional free trade negotiations with the US.
The AFL-CIO, the largest US union group, and the United Steelworkers oppose the Obama administration’s trade agreement with South Korea, splitting with unions representing auto and farm workers.
In 2007, South Korea launched an FTA with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Malaysia, but Seoul hopes for a higher-level separate FTA with the country, one of South Korea's major economic partners.
South Korean farmers staged a protest on Wednesday, urging their government to abolish the US- South Korea free trade agreement.
An unusual split in the US labor movement has developed over President Obama’s proposed free-trade pact with South Korea, with two powerful unions backing the deal — a development that experts say will make Congressional ratification far more likely.
