By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
President Roh Moo-hyun expressed his discontent Thursday over criticism that the government was surrendering to demands for market opening by the United States.
In a speech to encourage the best-performing venture start-ups at the COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, Roh said he feels uneasy with critics who say the U.S. is pressing Korea.
Roh said, ``Isn't it weird to say that demands by the U.S. are considered pressure and those by the European Union (EU) are not?''
The term pressure could be perceived to have originated from neo-worship of superpowers, he said. ``I hope we do not mention pressure any more when we talk about market opening.''
His remarks came as Korea is in waiting for a yes-or-no vote, or limited ratification, by the National Assembly on the Korea-U.S. free agreement (FTA) negotiation.
Critics from the progressive parties and civic groups have accused the Roh Moo-hyun administration of giving in to many demands of the U.S. without being successful in obtaining similar-level concessions in the talks, concluded last April.
Korea also accepted the U.S. demand for renegotiations after April and is considering easing quarantine rules against American beef.
Saying that he supports a free market based on neo-liberalism, Roh insisted that a fair, stable market was also important.
Unlike his position supporting market opening and neo-liberalism, he criticized foreign buyout funds such as Lone Star, Carlyle and Newbridge Capital.
He cited the volatile market following the 1997 financial crisis and commented on speculators. ``Speculative funds enjoyed great gains when the Korean market was unstable.''
This is the first time that Roh has criticized foreign funds, which reaped enormous gains by buying and selling Korea's insolvent financial service companies over short periods of time.
During Roh's tenure, Lone Star acquired the Korea Exchange Bank and other funds enjoyed short-term gains by selling banks, including KorAm Bank and Korea First Bank to Citibank and Standard Chartered Group, respectively.
In addition, Roh said inter-Korean unification won't be financially burdensome to South Korea, adding that money bound for the North from the South should be regarded as a long-term investment instead of a unification expense.