ISDS Case Map
Korea
The government hopes to start free trade negotiations with China in the first half of next year after it clinches a free trade agreement with the U.S, a senior government official said Thursday.
According to recently-released data from a conference held last year, when China showed its intention to seek a free trade agreement with Korea, the U.S. gave a strong warning and the Korean government backed away from the deal, going with the U.S. instead.
South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong on Thursday denied a report that the Seoul government rejected China's proposal to sign a free trade agreement last year after the United States expressed concerns over Beijing's huge presence in Northeast Asia.
A South Korean trade official, who participated in the recent free trade negotiations with Washington, said that Seoul was not in a position to play the "China card" in its negotiations with the United States for fear of causing unnecessary backlash from Washington, referring to the negotiation leverage that might be gained by first signing a free trade pact with China.
Experiences & strategies for radical communication in (counter) public sphere around Kor-US FTA talk during the 1st half of 2006
Eight out of ten lawmakers think the government were insufficiently prepared to enter free trade talks with the United States, and criticized them for failing to seek a national consensus before starting negotiations two months ago.
"We are learning new things while we're negotiating with the American representatives," said a Korean official who was part of the labor section negotiation team during the first round of the Korea-U.S. FTA talks, held in Washington last June. "The U.S. is demanding the introduction of a so-called 'public communication system,' which was a term that we heard for the first time," the negotiator told Hankyoreh.
A free trade agreement (FTA) between Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) and China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia and India (East Asia FTA) is possible in the next 10 years, Asean secretary-general, Ong Keng Yong, said Tuesday.
Seoul National University President Chung Un-chan, who is also a prominent economist, has criticized the government's handling of the free trade agreement with the United States as hasty application of theory.
Well-known social commentator and oriental philosopher Kim Young-oak, better known by his penname Doh-ol, said that Korean President Roh Moo-hyun should stop pushing for the establishment of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, citing the lack of public support.
