Obama urged to move for early ratification of Korea FTA: experts

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, May 13 (Yonhap) -- A group of U.S. scholars and experts Thursday
called on the Obama administration to expedite the ratification of the pending
free trade deal with South Korea, dismissing U.S. concerns over an imbalance in
auto trade and limited beef shipments.
"Unfortunately, the Obama administration has so far failed to bring the
U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) before Congress for approval," said a
policy report issued by the New Beginnings Policy Study Group. "Continued failure
to do so will not only hurt the American economy and cost American jobs, but will
also reduce U.S. credibility and influence with South Korea and all of East
Asia."
The policy group of U.S. experts on Northeast Asia has been issuing
recommendations on the U.S. government's relations with South Korea every year
since it was formed in January 2008.
Among the members are Michael Armacost, former undersecretary of state for
political affairs, Thomas Hubbard, ex-U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Shin Gi
Wook, director of the Walter Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford
University, and David Straub, associate director of the Korean Studies Program at
the Shorenstein center.
The recommendation follows a letter submitted to Obama last week by Sens. John
Kerry (D-Massachusetts), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and
Richard Lugar (R-Indiana), a ranking member of the same committee, to call for
the KORUS FTA's ratification ahead of Seoul's hosting of the G-20 economic summit
in November.
A bipartisan group of 14 U.S. congressmen led by Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas)
also expressed support Wednesday for early ratification of the pending free trade
deal.
The report disputed concerns by the Obama administration about lopsided auto
trade and restricted shipments of U.S. beef, major hurdles to the early
congressional approval of the agreement, signed in 2007.
"Congressional opponents are focused on the auto trade provisions in the KORUS
FTA, which are actually favorable to the United States, but they have not taken
note of the fact that failure to ratify the agreement will mean reduced sales of
American-built cars in South Korea when the ROK-EU FTA is implemented," it said.
ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
The report said that the Obama administration failed to consider the existence of
GM Daewoo Motors, a subsidiary of General Motors, in South Korea.
"Congressional opponents also do not give sufficient weight to the fact that the
United States actually enjoys a significant portion of the automobile market in
South Korea, through GM's ownership of Daewoo Motors," it said. "Meanwhile, in
the United States, a $1 billion Kia automobile plant has just opened in Georgia,
which will ultimately create an estimated 20,000 jobs for Americans."
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in March, "The disparity in the number of
automobiles imported into the United States, with over 700,000 Korean-made
automobiles sold here, and less than 7,000 is not one that I think we can
defend."
South Korea says GM Daewoo sold more than 110,000 units, or 11.7 percent of the
Korean market share in 2008, compared to Hyundai and Kia Motors' less than 7
percent market share in the U.S., which includes hundreds of thousands of autos
produced by Hyundai Motor's plant in Alabama.
The report also noted that U.S. beef exports to South Korea reached US$216
million last year, making South Korea the fourth biggest importer of U.S. beef
products.
The Lee Myung-bak government resumed imports of U.S. beef in late 2008 despite
concerns among Koreans about mad cow disease, which led to weeks of street
rallies. South Korea imports beef only from cattle less than 30 months old.
"If the United States does not soon ratify the KORUS FTA, the ROK will probably
proceed to finalize its pending FTA with the EU, and eventually negotiate FTAs
with China and a number of other countries," the report said. "The result will be
relatively weaker American ties with the ROK and reduced American stature in the
region."
Kirk said last month that Obama "would like to complete at least one of three
pending trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama this year." He declined
to say which would come first.
The U.S. goods trade deficit with South Korea was US$10.6 billion in 2009, down
$2.8 billion from 2008, according to figures by the U.S. Trade Representative.
On South Korea's retaking of the wartime operational control of its troops from
the U.S. in April 2012, the report recommended that the sides conduct a thorough
assessment of South Korea's defense capabilities against nuclear-armed North
Korea, as well as other factors, before making a decision on whether to delay the
OPCON transition.
"Should transition shortfalls be identified, the first resort should be to the
already pledged U.S. bridging capabilities," it said. "If that proves inadequate,
we should be prepared to consider the possibility of a delay in the date of the
transfer, while retaining the goal of effecting the transfer as early as
possible. We should also be sensitive to Korean public opinion and to the views
of Korean military experts, retired senior officers, and other stakeholders in
the U.S.-ROK alliance."
Conservatives from both Seoul and Washington have called for a delay in the OPCON
transfer, fearing a possible gap in the joint defense of South Korea since North
Korea detonated its second nuclear device last year and continued testing medium-
and long-range missiles.
The wartime OPCON transition agreement was made in 2007 under former liberal
President Roh Moo-hyun, who sought a greater role for South Korea in maintaining
its own defense. Peacetime control of South Korean forces was returned in 1994.
The U.S. currently maintains 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the Korean
War, in which the U.S. fought alongside South Korea against invading North Korean
troops aided by China.
The report, meanwhile, called on the Obama administration to engage North Korea
more actively through bilateral dialogue while continuing the six-party talks to
end the North's nuclear weapons programs.
"The Six Party Talks do not preclude bilateral negotiations; they provide a
context that makes it politically acceptable for the United States to engage
North Korea bilaterally," it said.
The U.S. has refused have another high-level bilateral meeting with North Korea
since December, when Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North Korea
policy, flew to Pyongyang, the first bilateral contact since Obama's
inauguration.
Washington cites North Korea's recalcitrance regarding the talks, stalled over
U.N. sanctions for the North's nuclear and missile tests early last year.
Pyongyang wants sanctions to be lifted and dialogue to begin for a peace treaty
with the U.S. before it returns to the table.
The lack of substantial progress in the nuclear talks "naturally suggests the
need to consider complementary or alternative processes," the report said,
possibly referring to the role of China, which has hosted the multilateral
nuclear talks since their inception in 2003.
"While the PRC does not want North Korea to have a nuclear weapons program, it is
less concerned about that danger than about the regime's possible collapse," the
report said. "The United States should stress that this is a false dichotomy.
China's less-than-enthusiastic implementation of U.N. Security Council sanctions
on North Korea and its reluctance to increase pressure on Pyongyang have made it
easier for the North not to cooperate with the international community." PRC
stands for the People's Republic of Korea.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)

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