ISDS Case Map
Korea
For the past two months, protesters have been filling the streets of Seoul condemning a decision to lift a ban on imported beef from the United States. We speak with Michael Hansen, senior scientist for Consumers Union.
Korean citizens voice opposition to US beef deal, Afghan troop deployment and KORUS FTA
When KCTU called for general strike on July 2nd, renegotiation of the April 18 Protocol on US beef import to reflect food safety concerns was declared as one of priorities of strike aims. The Ministry of Labor and prosecutor explained that this was the main reason that it was illegal. This is a repetition of the South Korean government's very narrow interpretation that the only legal aims of strikes be related to wages and working conditions.
Left-wing activists are hoping to use Bush's two-day visit to Korea to press for a renegotiation of the beef deal and reignite the candlelight protest movement. The protest will also raise calls to nullify a bilateral free trade agreement and withdraw Korean troops from Iraq.
Korean negotiators say talks with Indian officials to strike a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement produced considerable progress.
South Korea will push forward bilateral free trade agreements as the global trade talks under the World Trade Organization finished without progress, South Korean Deputy Trade Minister Ahn Ho-young said Wednesday
La Via Campesina supports the peaceful fight of the Korean Peasant League, Korean Women Peasants Association and the movements of the Korean people for their right to have access to safe food and to produce locally. FTAs undermine the freedom of choice and the access to safe food, which are basic elements of food sovereignty.
South Korean hospital workers on Monday threatened to strike this week to press demands including a ban on the use of US beef for patients' meals.
Talks between Japan and South Korea on resuming negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement have been postponed indefinitely after Seoul said it was unhappy over a reference to the Takeshima islets in school handbooks
South Korean activists Monday sent a petition to the United Nations, asking the international organization to admonish their government for its hardline crackdown on street protests over US beef imports.
