ISDS Case Map
Korea
South Korea will lift its ban on Canadian beef within the next three weeks, allowing the two countries to complete a free-trade agreement in the near future, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay predicted yesterday.
Korea's two umbrella labor groups are split about the free trade agreement with the United States. KCTU is against the FTA altogether. FKTU has taken the position that the agreement needs "followup" measures.
After signing a free trade agreement with South Korea, negotiations are underway at the 13th Asean Economic Ministers (AEM) Retreat, for Japan to be next on the list to sign the deal with the South East Asian Nations grouping.
This newspaper carried out telephone interviews over the prospects of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) passing through the U.S. Congress with four experts: Jeffrey J. Schott, a senior fellow with the Institute for International Economics; Claude Barfield, a resident scholar at American Enterprise Institute; Larry Allen Niksch, a Specialist in Asian Affairs with the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, and Anthony B. Kim, a research associate in the Center for International Trade and Economics at the Heritage Foundation.
The European Commission has adopted negotiating mandates for new free trade agreements with trade partners in the 10-nation Asean bloc plus India and South Korea, according to a news release from Brussels.
Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay on Wednesday called on South Korea to remove its ban on Canadian beef imports, saying it could be a stumbling block in talks for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
South Korea is scheduled to decide on the beginning of negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) at a meeting of ministers next week, a government official said Sunday.
The US-Korea FTA cannot be seen apart from US-South Korean security ties, the presence in South Korea of more than 30,000 US troops and a 50-year economic relationship that has been heavily weighted towards American interests. From this perspective, the FTA is the fourth attempt by the United States to force its economic will on South Korea over the past half-century. By rejecting it, we can reject the flawed policies of corporate globalization while embracing a new relationship with the Korean people at the same time.
Trade delegates from Korea and Canada wrapped up their tenth round of free trade talks in Seoul last Thursday.
New Zealand has taken a big step closer to a free trade agreement with South Korea.
