It is disturbing to hear that a leading U.S. presidential hopeful has continued to express his opposition to the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA). Sen. Barack Obama called on President George W. Bush not to submit the bilateral FTA for a congressional vote on Thursday. Obama, who is favored to win the Democratic nomination race with Sen. Hillary Clinton, is apparently intensifying his bid to block the ratification of the trade deal.
South Koreans cannot but feel disappointment with the Democratic frontrunner's move against the FTA. Obama should realize that the Lee Myung-bak administration has agreed to completely open the local market to American beef in a move to translate the free trade agreement into reality. Of course, the FTA is not directly linked to the beef market opening.
But, Lee and his policymakers hope that the beef deal will clear the way for the U.S. Congress to give support for the FTA that they believe will bring more prosperity to both South Koreans and Americans. Last week, President Lee urged opposition lawmakers to join efforts to ratify the FTA, while expressing his apology to the nation for causing a public uproar.
Opposition political parties immediately rejected Lee's apology and refused to cooperate with the Lee administration and the governing Grand National Party (GNP) to pass the free trade deal at the National Assembly. The GNP is trying to convene an extra ordinary Assembly session to put the Korea-U.S. FTA to vote. But it faces difficulties in doing so due to opposition parties' refusal.
In this situation, Obama's attempt against the FTA is casting a dark cloud over the parliamentary approval for the bilateral free trade accord not only in South Korea but also in the United States. Considering the tight political timetable ahead of the November presidential poll in the U.S., analysts cautiously predict that the ratification of the FTA might be delayed until after the election.
Obama called the Korea-U.S. FTA ``badly flawed'' in a letter sent to President Bush, resorting to his party's protectionist trade policy. It is apparent that the letter reflected U.S. automakers' dissatisfaction with the FTA. Sen. Obama argued that the agreement, particularly the provisions on automobiles, gives South Korean exports ``essentially unfettered access to the U.S. market.''
The letter was made public just hours after President Bush appealed the Congress to endorse FTAs with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, while celebrating World Trade Week at the White House. Many U.S. Congressmen, especially Democrats, have been opposed to the Korea-U.S. FTA, calling on Seoul to open wider to American cars and farm products.
Against this backdrop, a growing number of South Koreans are likely to become increasingly skeptical about the FTA. Pessimists warn that the free trade deal might be scuttled if a Democratic candidate is elected president. We have to keep in mind that the FTA is designed to forge a new economic partnership between the two countries as well as to cement a bilateral alliance.
It is unfair that Democrats continue to put more pressure on Seoul to open its market wider to U.S. products even after the beef deal. Democrats should pay heed to remarks by Undersecretary of Commerce Christopher Padilla. ``We have an ally who has made a very difficult political decision, the right one, to open its market to American beef," he said. ``We ask our allies to make the hard choices on their side, and then we don't even give them the courtesy of a vote of consideration of merits? I think that's a terrible way to treat an ally."