A representative from the U.S. Embassy of Korea and a member of the Chamber of Commerce both stressed the importance of continued Korea-U.S. relations, emphasizing the benefits of passing the Free Trade Agreement in a discussion on Friday at the Boston University Castle.
Won-kyong Kim of the Embassy of Korea and Sean Connell of the Chamber, speaking to an audience of 20 students, said they were touring the United States to elaborate on what they saw as the potential rewards of the FTA, which is pending congressional approval.
The speakers said their stop at BU was slightly unusual, in a good way.
“Today’s talk is pretty unique,” Kim said. “Most of the time we talk with businessmen about commercial business interests, but it is great to talk about these issues with students who have a deep interest in the future.”
The United States and Korea signed the FTA in June 2007, but neither the National Assembly of South Korea nor the U.S. Congress has ratified treaty.
A Dec. 2010 compromise between the European Union and South Korea regarding free trade renewed hope that the FTA may pass in the United States.
Both Kim and Connell said they have been touring the country trying to gain support for the agreement.
“The prevalent criticism of the agreements is that the United States would be outsourcing jobs to Korea,” Kim said. “That criticism isn’t applicable. Korea is building factories in the U.S. giving Americans jobs, not vice versa.”
According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the FTA will create at least 70,000 new jobs in the United States. In addition, a report by Sen. Ron Wyden suggests the number may be closer to 280,000 jobs.
The FTA would decrease tariffs between the U.S. and South Korea by 95 percent within five years and eventually eliminate the tariffs all together. This initiative would benefit the United States because the average South Korean tariff is 11.2 percent while only 3.7 percent for the United States.
Connell elaborated on the mutually beneficial effects of this initiative.
“This agreement would broaden the relationship between the U.S. and Korea and open up both markets, growing trade,” Connell said.
Kim urged the United States to keep up with other countries, like Japan and China, which have overtaken the United States as the biggest traders to South Korea in the past 10 years.
However, Kim acknowledged the benefits for Korea as well.
“We get the lower tariffs, but also we saw this as a comprehensive reform package for the Korean economy. Our agricultural sector is a particular burden for the economy,” Kim said. “We need to provide assistance to farmers through different channels.”
Connell addressed criticisms that the FTA would hurt the trade balance. He pointed out that the trade deficit to Korea is only $2.9 billion, compared to $194 billion to China and $46 billion to Mexico.
“Right now our trade is pretty balanced and the FTA will just enable trade to grow and rapidly change the business environment,” Connell said.
Some students said they were interested in business relations between the United States and South Korea.
“We are seeing a lot of entertainment businesses flourish in Korea and I think the ratification of these trade agreements will only help it to grow,” said Camlinh To, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Others students were drawn to the relationship between North and South Korea.
“I am very intrigued by North-South Korean relations,” said CAS freshman Sophie Miller. “I came today because I wanted to know what to expect in the future, specifically how worldwide instability would affect the region.”
CAS sophomore Sam Hodak said he was fascinated by the possibilities for the region as well.
“Given the Unites States’ role in North and South Korea, the situation and consequently the relationship between the U.S. and South Korea, becomes intensely interesting and very complicated,” Hodak said.
Peter Gemma • Mar 7, 2011 at 10:48 am
The Korea Free Trade Agreement is actually a heavily MANAGED trade deal―just like NAFTA―and weighs in at over a thousand pages of fine print. Multi-national corporate elites get favors, exceptions, and precedence, while hard-pressed middle-to-small sized U.S. Industries (such as manufacturers of cotton products and car parts) shoulder obligations and restrictions. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that KFTA would increase the U.S. trade deficit with Korea by $13.9 billion over the next seven years. Rising Korean imports would displace approximately 888,000 U.S. jobs over this time period, with the KFTA directly responsible for about 159,000 net job losses.
Our tax dollars will actually flow into North Korea via its Kaesong Industrial Complex, a “free trade zone” haven for sweatshops where South Korean firms employ some 44,000 North Koreans for wages in the range of 25-38 cents an hour (their autoworker counterparts in the South earned $23.30 an hour in 2007). North Korea-manufactured automobile parts would be built into South Korean cars sold in the U.S. The proposed trade deal allows up to 65% of the auto parts to be purchased from North Korea, then shipped here duty-free.
A hopeful sign: Korean opposition to the deal may help defeat this misnamed treaty: “We have been hit by the North with cannons and now we’re being hit by the US with the economy,” asserts Park Jie-Won, leader of the minority Democratic Party, calling the agreement a “humiliating and treacherous deal.” The Korea Confederation of Trade Unions says that KORUS FTA “is based on an economic model that has privileged investor rights over workers’ rights, public services, and the environment.”
The AFL-CIO, Donald Trump, Congressman Ron Paul, consumer advocate Ralph Nader and the Sierra Club oppose KFTA – time to explore, in depth, why.