KORUS FTA beneficial to both economies: top diplomat

By Park Sang-soo
SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) -- A top South Korean diplomat in Washington on Wednesday
urged the ratification of a pending free trade deal between South Korea and the
United States, saying it will serve as a good opportunity for both economies to
grow further.
"I don't agree that a free trade agreement will take jobs away and prove
unpopular," South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Han Duck-soo said at a luncheon
meeting in Seoul, hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea.
Han said the accord, if ratified by both countries, will provide unprecedented
opportunity for American workers and farmers. "It would create significant
opportunity for U,S. businesses," he said.
Both sides signed the free trade accord, known as KORUS FTA, in 2007, but the
accord has yet to be put to a vote in either the U.S. or South Korea's
legislature.
Some politicians in the U.S. have underscored the need for South Korea to
renegotiate provisions of the pact covering trade in autos and other manufactured
goods.
"The U.S. can have wider access to the market overseas, thereby creating more
jobs in the U.S. The FTA is also crucial in maintaining economic alliance," Han
said. "I think it will be passed and the question is the timing."
South Korea hopes that the passage of health care reform in the U.S. will pave
the way for early congressional approval of the free trade accord.
South Korea is pressing U.S. president Barack Obama to submit the pact by this
summer, fearing that failure to do so could push the ratification of the accord
to 2011 or later, after the mid-term elections in November.
The accord is the largest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade
Agreement with Canada and Mexico, and the biggest ever for South Korea.
sam@yna.co.kr
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