U.S. to work closely with Korea on FTA ratification: State Dept.

By Hwang Doo-hyong

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- The Barack Obama administration will work closely with South Korea for congressional approval of a pending free trade deal that could help revive the U.S. economy, struggling through the worst recession in decades, a senior U.S. official said Thursday.

"Continued integration of the economies of this region will create new business
opportunities, benefiting workers, consumers, and businesses and creating jobs
back here in the United States," Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for
East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told a hearing of the Senate foreign relations
subcommittee.
"Despite strong export growth to the Asia-Pacific, the United States' share of
the total trade in the region has declined by three percent in the past five
years," Campbell said. "To reverse this trend, we will continue to work with the
Congress, stakeholders, and the Republic of Korea to work through the outstanding
issues of concern so we can move forward on our bilateral free trade agreement."
Campbell did not specify when the administration will present the Korea FTA to
Congress for ratification.
Other U.S. officials have said they want to address U.S. concerns about the
imbalance in auto trade and restricted shipments of beef in side agreements
without revising the text of the deal, signed in 2007.
South Korea is pressing Obama to submit the deal by this summer, fearing that
failure to do so would push ratification to at least 2011, after the mid-term
elections in November.
The victory of Republican Scott Brown in the Massachusetts special election
Tuesday, breaking the Democrats' filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate,
jeopardizes Obama's health care reform bill and makes it more difficult for Obama
to advance the Korea FTA and other less pressing issues, analysts said.
"President Obama and the Democratic Party should now feel a sense of crisis that
they may face another major defeat in the upcoming mid-term elections, so they
may put forth another controversial and hot issue such as immigration reform to
rally support from liberals and liberal independents," said Jay Kim, a former
Republican congressman from Diamond City, California. "That means the Korea FTA
and other less urgent issues will still be left over at least until after the
elections."
At the subcommittee hearing, Campbell emphasized the importance of enhancing
trade and other economic ties with South Korea and other Asian countries.
"It is worth highlighting that four Asian economies -- China, Japan, the Republic
of Korea, and Taiwan -- are now among our top-12 trading partners," he said.
"Today, the 21 APEC economies purchase almost 60 percent of U.S. goods. We need
to recognize Asia's importance to the global economy. Close U.S.-Asian economic
cooperation is vital to the well-being of the U.S. and international economic
order."
He also called for more balanced trade with Asia, a euphemism for more exports to
address burgeoning U.S. trade deficits.
"We simply cannot return to the same cycles of boom and bust that led us into a
global recession," he said. "The United States and Asia need to emphasize
balanced growth and trade."
Turning to North Korea, Campbell said the U.S. will continue to cooperate with
South Korea to draw North Korea back to the six-party denuclearization talks,
stalled over U.N. sanctions for Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests.
"We did not reach agreement on when and how North Korea will return to six-party
talks, a matter that we will continue to discuss with Asian partners early in
2010," he said. "Japan and the Republic of Korea have been key partners in our
joint efforts to maintain peace and stability in Northeast Asia and, in
particular, to denuclearize North Korea through the six-party process."
Campbell was referring to the visit to Pyongyang by Stephen Bosworth, special
representative for North Korea policy, last month -- the administration's first
high-level official contact with the North. The visit, however, failed to lure
the North back to the six-nation forum.
Since then, as preconditions for to returning to the table, North Korea has
called for the removal of sanctions and a peace treaty to replace the fragile
armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
The U.S. has said it will discuss lifting sanctions and crafting a peace treaty
only after the North returns to the talks, which have been on and off since their
inception in 2003. Some U.S. officials have said they are ready to have another
face-to-face meeting to facilitate the reopening of the negotiations.
Campbell said Tuesday that he is embarking on a tour of Seoul and Tokyo on Feb. 1
or 2 to meet with officials on the six-party talks and other issues of mutual and
multilateral concern.
South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Wi Sung-lac, meanwhile, is here to meet
with Bosworth, Campbell and other officials.
Emerging from a meeting with Bosworth at the State Department, Wi told reporters,
"We've discussed the situation where we are now and ways to cope with
developments in the future. We've agreed that we will continue to work closely to
persuade North Korea back to the six-party talks."
Campbell also touched on the decades-old alliance with South Korea.
"We are also working vigorously with our other critical ally in Northeast Asia,
the Republic of Korea, to modernize our defense alliance and to achieve a
partnership that is truly global and comprehensive in nature," he said,
apparently referring to preparations for South Korea to retake full command of
its troops in 2012 and scenarios under which U.S. troops in South Korea might
deploy to conflict regions abroad.
"Building off the Joint Vision Statement between Presidents Obama and Lee
Myung-bak, we are committed to creating a more dynamic relationship that builds
on our shared values and strategic interests," he said. "We look forward to the
Republic of Korea's growing international leadership role as it hosts the 2010
G-20 Leaders Meeting."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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