A paragraph from a document made by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, which says Korea should achieve early ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement to put pressure on the United States to follow suit. |
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
The Lee Myung-bak administration rushed to reopen the domestic beef market to help Washington seek ratification from Congress of the Korea-U.S free trade agreement (KORUS FTA), a government document obtained by The Korea Times suggests.
Resuming American beef imports was one of the crucial preconditions Korea has been urged to meet by U.S. legislators for them to start discussions on the trade deal.
The document reveals how desperate the government was, following Lee's Camp David summit with President George W. Bush in April, to secure early passage of the deal at the National Assembly, which it hoped would lead to U.S. ratification before Bush left the White House.
The government believed ratification by South Korean lawmakers would pressure Congress to vote for the KORUS FTA before it recesses on Sept. 26, according to the document. Americans go to the polls on Nov. 4 to pick the next occupant of the White House.
``There is a need to push the United States through Korea's early FTA ratification,'' said the document made by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in May and allegedly shared by senior policymakers.
The document said South Korea could suffer a long delay in getting the FTA ratified if it failed to get it approved before the new National Assembly started its four-year term in June. As America is also heading toward a presidential election, the administration there needs to submit the deal to Congress for a vote before it is too late, it noted.
The Korean government has maintained that early ratification of the FTA would provide crucial momentum for the country's planned trade negotiations with the European Union, Canada and other countries.
South Korean officials flatly denied the relevance between lifting the ban on American beef imports and winning the FTA ratification. However, the document throws light on why they were in a hurry to allow the sale of U.S. beef here despite public worries about its safety, critics say.
Negotiators from Seoul and Washington agreed on sales of beef to Korea just hours before Lee met Bush at Camp David. Opposition parties raised questions about the timing of the agreement, while Cheong Wa Dae hoped the deal would pave the way for more talks to strengthen the Korea-U.S. alliance.
``We call Korea's decision to resume U.S. beef import a gift President Lee prepared for Bush. Lee wanted to conclude the FTA with the U.S. and he needed something to impress him,'' charged Kang Ki-kap, a lawmaker from the Democratic Labor Party. ``The Korean government knew well about the health risks of U.S. beef, but it skipped time-consuming talks on safety measures to win ratification as early as possible.''
Kang's view has been brushed off as a groundless accusation, but the document suggests he may be right on that point.
With anti-Lee protests escalating and calls mounting for renegotiations with the U.S. on the beef imports, prospects are getting dimmer for Congress to ratify the KORUS FTA this year.
It is expected to deal with the ratification after the presidential election, according to Charles Rangel, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
During a meeting with the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New York on June 2, he said if the agreement is put to a vote now, many would question whether it was the right time to discuss it.
Reports say the mood in Washington is that Congress will either vote against ratifying the agreement or simply not vote on it at all while Bush in office. He has yet to send it for ratification, and is facing rising calls to defer it to the next administration.
The document also showed the government set up a plan to spend a combined total of 21.1 trillion won ($20.4 billion) from 2008-2017 to enhance the competitiveness of the domestic farming and fishing industries following implementation of the FTA.
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