ISDS Case Map
Korea
Talks for a free trade deal between Seoul and Washington seem to be running into a snag as some political leaders within South Korea's ruling camp are raising voices on the need to "slow down" on it.
Beware of the dragonfly: it may be a bugging robot disguised as a harmless insect. No, the advice does not come from a mental patient convinced the government is spying on his laundry bills: it was one of the security tips issued during last week's two-day workshop for 120 Korean delegates in the nation's impending free-trade negotiations with the US.
A government policy-setting panel on Friday welcomed a proposal by the trade minister to launch negotiations between Japan and its 15 Asian neighbors to create a free trade zone, and discussed whether to accept more foreign workers amid the aging of society, economic and fiscal policy minister Kaoru Yosano said.
Unless this FTA is blocked, Korean economy, nay, the
whole Korean society will soon fall under US unilateralism built
upon transnational capital, Korea-US military alliance, and of course
the new gained strategic flexibility of the US forces in Korea.
The Japanese government plans to propose the formation of an Asian free-trade zone which could include half the world's population and rival the EU and NAFTA, an official of the trade ministry said.
Representatives of south Korean civic and social organizations reportedly called a press conference on March 28 to declare the inauguration of the "Headquarters of the All-people Movement for Checking the Conclusion of FTA."
A former aide to President Roh Moo-hyun on Tuesday denounced the president's push for a free trade agreement (FTA) deal with the United States as a "grave blunder" that could endanger the Roh regime and the entire Korean economy.
South Korea hopes to establish free trade agreements (FTAs) with other Latin American and Caribbean countries following one with Chile, Vice Finance and Economy Minister Kwon Tae-shin said Sunday.
Some experts like Choi Sei-kyun, a research director at the Korea Rural Economic Institute, underlined in his latest research report that it is still too early to gauge the effect of the bilateral free trade deal on domestic farmers, despite the relatively rapid rise in Chilean agricultural imports.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has announced it would stage a general strike in April 3-14 in protest of parliament's passage of a bill that labor thinks unfavorable to irregular workers and the government's "labor road map," followed by walkouts of some industrial unions. KCTU also opposes the Korea-US free trade agreement, while calling for the provision of free medical and educational services.
