Any tears for Kim’s departure?

By Kim Da-ye

The long-awaited and still waiting ratification of a free trade pact between Korea and the U.S. will be Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon’s swansong.

In a meeting with journalists on Monday, the 59-year-old Kim said that after the deal is done, he has nowhere to go, but home.

“I have done this job for a long time. A spry person needs to be doing this kind of work,” Kim said.

Korea’s top negotiator also strongly denied that the U.S. offered him a director-general level position at the World Trade Organization. He called the rumor groundless, and, when asked if he intends to take the position, he responded, “I can have the intention only if I have been given such an offer.”

What are Kim’s feelings on the past five years as the chief negotiator in the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) and as the trade minister?

Immaculately dressed in a black suit, a crisply ironed white shirt with no tie and the top button undone and down to the pair of silky black socks on his feet, Kim with his long, slender eyes exudes charisma.

He speaks so softly that his voice was almost buried by the loud typing by the journalists eating up every word. The vocal chords gently come across as the keen strategy of a negotiator who intentionally smoothes over dicey points so they go unnoticed.

He is surely a negotiator; he doesn’t mention any regrets.

But in the opinion of other s, the major regret of his career is the re-negotiation of the KORUS FTA.

The Ministry of Strategy announced last Friday that under the terms of the renegotiated FTA, the trade balance between Korea and the U.S. will increase by $488 million every year while it would have reached $541 million under the terms of the original agreement.

The auto sector would lose about 57.3 billion won while the pork and medicine sectors gain 16.7 billion won.

Kim said the criticism on the renegotiation devastates him, explaining that the increase in exports by $488 million couldn’t be realized without the trade pact.

“The U.S. imports goods and services worth $2 trillion, and spends about $50 billion on us, which represents about a 2.5 percent of the total,” Kim said.

“We should keep increasing our market share in advanced economies. After we settle down in advanced markets, we can lead in the developing economies.”

Kim said that the U.S. congress is too concerned with lifting the debt ceiling and avoiding a default to pay attention to the KORUS FTA right now.

He urged that the provisional session of the National Assembly should begin in August and the process of ratifying the trade deal in the U.S. will get to the matter by as early as September. He hoped the agreement passes through at least the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee in the near future.

While Kim remained assured of the brighter aspects of the FTAs he has negotiated, he did admit having one wish remaining.

“I had a big dream. If the deal ends soon, I could go on a holiday,” Kim said.