Vershbow calls on S. Korea to agree to complementary arrangements to FTA

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (Yonhap) -- Former U.S. ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow on Friday called for Seoul to consider some "additional negotiations" over a pending free trade deal with the U.S.
Neither side has openly discussed renegotiation of the trade agreement signed in
June last year that is still pending in both countries' legislatures.
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and other Congressional Democrats, who control
both houses of Congress, have been reluctant to discuss the deal due to the
sensitivity of the issue during a U.S. presidential transition.
Obama, however, has said he would not support the Korea FTA "as it is" and termed
it as "badly flawed," saying South Korea exports more than 700,000 automobiles to
the U.S. annually while buying about 5,000 U.S vehicles.
Vershbow, who recently completed his three-year service in Seoul, told a seminar
here hosted by the Korea Economic Institute that South Koreans need "to be open
minded by showing flexibility as the United States showed on beef after the
candlelight vigil."
He hoped that the incoming Barack Obama administration will ratify a free trade
deal with South Korea early next year if Seoul takes flexibility.
Vershbow was talking about the U.S. having agreed to make new arrangements in
June to limit shipments of U.S. beef to cattle less than 30 months old to reduce
concerns over mad cow disease.
The pro-U.S. conservative government of President Lee Myung-bak allowed
resumption of U.S. beef in April, a couple of months after his inauguration, only
to face months of street rallies against the U.S. beef whose imports were banned
after the first mad cow disease was found in the U.S. in 2003.
"Both sides are careful to avoid the word renegotiation, but some additional
negotiations or complementary understandings about non-tariff barriers may be the
only way to get the Korus FTA go through," he said. "It's realistic to make some
kind of fixes we need."
He supported early signing of the Korea FTA, citing its "economic benefits and
strategic importance."
Vershbow feared any failure to do that will result in the "questioning in
reliability of partners."
He also noted South Korea is still moving with the FTA with the European Union,
Canada, Australia, China and Japan, "thereby reducing the U.S. opportunity in the
Korean market and weakening our political standing in the region."
"We will also forfeit the strong leverage the Korus FTA provides," he said.
The former top U.S. diplomat in Seoul, who was replaced by Kathleen Stephens in
September, was meanwhile confident that South Korea will be able to overcome
the U.S.-initiated global financial crisis.
"I think Korea's fundamentals still are pretty strong," he said, citing South
Korea's foreign exchange reserves and efforts to reduce trade deficits and make
swap line arrangements with foreign governments.
"South Korea was affected by the financial crisis quite dramatically in term of
stock markets and exchange rate and we have certain confidence in Korea's ability
to manage the situation," he said. "Koreans are doing the right thing."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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