ISDS Case Map
Korea
Heo Se-ok, who set himself on fire on April 1 in protest of the Korean government's moves to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US, still remains in serious condition with burns over 63 percent of body, hospital officials said. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions issued a statement holding the government responsible for Heo's taking of extreme measures to protest the situation.
For the past few years, the backers and denouncers of a free trade accord between Korea and the United States have feuded like the Montagues and Capulets. Not surprisingly, the two camps are still polarized on whether the trade pact bringing together the world's largest and 10th largest economies is destined to be a happy marriage or Shakespearean tragedy.
Trade unionists on both sides of the Pacific expressed disappointment Monday after the United States and South Korea agreed the biggest US trade pact in 15 years with only minutes to go before a deadline.
A taxi driver Heo Seuk, 54 years old man, burnned himself and left his last speech, "Give up the KorUS FTA". He was in the fire for 2 minutes and the ambulance arrived 5 minutes later. Fortunately he is alive now. But his doctor Lee Jeongsub explained that the probability that he would survive is 20~30 percent.
New political and economic opportunities opened for South Korea and the United States with the free trade agreement (FTA) announced Monday, but the way ahead for the deal in Washington still has uncertainties, and even risks.
The following is a summary of the free trade agreement (FTA) reached between South Korea and the United States Monday.
Korean labor groups voiced their strong opposition to the just-reached deal between South Korea and the United States to effectively dismantle their tariff barriers. The groups vowed to launch a campaign to nullify the free trade agreement deal (FTA) and even threatened to attempt to oust President Roh Moo-hyun.
Around 3:55 pm, April 1st 2007, Bro. Heo Se-Wook (54), a union member of KCTU, was attempting to suicide by self-immolation as an act of resistance against the Korea-US FTA negotiation. His health condition is very serious and receiving an emergency medical treatment at the Hangang Scared Heart Hospital. We need your solidarity and support.
Ending nearly 10 months of tough negotiations, South Korea and the United States reached a free trade agreement Monday, officials from both sides said.
A South Korean protester set himself on fire on Sunday outside a Seoul hotel where talks on a free trade pact with the United States are in their final hours, witnesses and hospital officials said.
