By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
The Roh Moo-hyun administration is set to hold renegotiations with the United States on a free trade agreement (FTA) under apparent pressure from the U.S. Congress.
While the U.S. and South Korean governments insist that it would not be a ``renegotiation'' but an ``additional discussion,'' local critics say Korea should have rejected the U.S. demand, pointing out the semantic analysis of the term could not be core of the issue.
Lee Hae-young, a professor of international relations at Hanshin University and a critic of the KORUS FTA, said he cannot understand the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
``Why are they going that way? Beside the (comparatively) few gains, they are poised to give up more,'' Lee said.
The two countries already concluded their bilateral negotiations on April 2, waiting for each side's parliamentary ratification.
While U.S. negotiators said it is necessary for Korea to strengthen regulations on ``labor'' and ``environment'' under a free trade accord, Korean critics focus on the situation that the U.S. is struggling to gain more in ``automobiles'' and ``beef'' for American exporters.
After the U.S. demanded that Korea enter into further discussions, even pro-KORUS FTA activists have become critical about the situation.
``The Korean government should not accept the proposal and the U.S. should act like the world's No. 1 superpower,'' said Professor Choi Byung-il of Ewha Womans University. ``There are rules and manners, which should be abided by, among countries.''
Jung Tae-in, a former presidential secretary for economic affairs, pointed out the ``initially unequal'' situation in which the Roh administration gave the U.S. four prerequisites in beef, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and screen quotas before the start of talks a year ago.
The U.S. achieved concessions from Korea in pharmaceuticals and screen quotas based on the earlier promise. Korea is now under pressure to fully open the beef and automobiles market.
Even before the renegotiation issue was highlighted, the Roh government was accused of yielding many sensitive sectors to the U.S. Some Korean lawmakers and advocate groups describe the negotiation as humiliating.
With less than 200 days to go before the Dec. 19 presidential election, major political parties began scrutinizing the results of the 10-month-long KORUS FTA talks, which were made public on May 25.
Between June and July, the National Assembly will hold concentrated audits on Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and FTA negotiators such as chief Kim Jong-hoon and deputy chief Lee Hye-min.
A noteworthy point is that the number of pessimists over the trade accord with the U.S. (or negotiation results) is higher among lawmakers from the pro-government Uri Party than those from the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP).
Professor Lee did not rule out the possibility that more and more Uri Party lawmakers might politicize the accord when presidential candidates are selected, saying, ``Who will be responsible for it (little gain and many yields in the negotiation as pro-government lawmakers)?''
Though Lee has taken a wait-and-see attitude about whether the trade deal issue will affect the presidential race, he said, ``Below the surface, many Uri Party lawmakers are opposing the agreement.''
Reps. Chun Jung-bae and Choi Jae-cheon, a deserter from the Uri Party, and former Uri Chairman Kim Geun-tae are the main figures who oppose the FTA.
The GNP's two leading presidential hopefuls _ Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak _ basically support the deal with the U.S. while all hopefuls from the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party (DLP) oppose the agreement.
Ultimately, the interest is what stance the Uri Party will take over the issue as a party between leftists and rightists.
``The GNP is unlikely to be the first runner to ignite the issue,'' Professor Lee said. When the progressive DLP actively tackles the issue, the Uri should make a choice ahead of the election.
``As soon as we complete reviews on the text, we will demand that the government hold all negotiations again from the initial stage or scrap the deal,'' Rep. Sim Sang-jeong of the DLP said.
When the Uri upholds President Roh's FTA policy, the possibility that the FTA issue may be a determining factor to the election is low. And the party should seek other issue to beat a powerful GNP candidate _ Lee Myung-bak, former Seoul mayor, or Park Geun-hye, former GNP chairwoman.
In early May, key figures in the FTA talks _ Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and chief negotiator Kim Jong-hoon and deputy chief negotiator Lee Hye-min _ asserted that there would be no renegotiation.
More and more netizens and civic groups say the renegotiation proves that the KORUS FTA talks were purely in the interests of the U.S.