ISDS Case Map
Korea
The European Union said it will seek bilateral trade deals with China and Korea, exploring new ways of conquering foreign markets as talks over a global trade pact flounder.
At issue are commodities as varied as rice, apparel and automobiles, as well as lucrative new markets in banking and other financial services, with potentially billions of dollars in commerce at stake. But for several countries negotiating trade pacts with the US, the outcome may have less to do with economics than with American election-year politics.
Underneath the radar of the mainstream media, the US and South Korea are negotiating a “free trade agreement” that, if signed, will be the largest such agreement since NAFTA was passed in 1994. Hence, it's a massive issue for US and Korean workers, and has been arousing massive opposition.
Fresh from acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival for creating a South Korean "Jaws," the director Bong Joon Ho staged a lone protest outside the Culture Ministry in Seoul, shouting slogans and raising a red placard.
The Ontario government is demanding that Ottawa exclude the auto sector from free trade talks with Korea because of potential harm to the industry.
It was 9:00 pm local time on the second day of the third round of Korea-US FTA talks.
Two major coalitions have formed to oppose the KORUS FTA and organize protest activities during the negotiations: the Korean Alliance Against Korea-US FTA (KoA), based in South Korea, and Korean Americans Against War And Neoliberalism (KAWAN), based in the United States.
The US has reportedly insisted on excluding its state governments from many of the stipulations of the free trade agreement (FTA) currently being negotiated with South Korea.
South Korean officials expressed disappointment Thursday at what they believed were low tariff concessions suggested by the US in free trade talks under way in Seattle.
The Federation of Korean Industries, Korea's biggest business lobby group, has raised its voice against the United States' demand for stricter rules on chaebols or family-run conglomerates in the free trade agreement talks between the two countries.
