ID :
50255
Thu, 03/12/2009 - 19:24
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/50255
The shortlink copeid
New S. Korean envoy to U.S. confident FTA will be approved
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, March 11 (Yonhap) -- The new South Korean ambassador to the United States, Han Duck-soo, said Wednesday he was confident that a pending free trade deal between South Korea and the U.S. will eventually be ratified despite growing protectionist sentiment in the U.S.
"There is no task which we cannot resolve." Han told South Korean correspondents
here. "I will try my best to persuade U.S. government officials, Congress and
industry (of the benefits of ratifying) the Korea-U.S. FTA."
Han, a former South Korean prime minister who replaced his predecessor Lee
Tae-sik just days earlier, said that he was not fazed by U.S. Trade
Representative nominee Ron Kirk's negative comments on the FTA days earlier.
"That explains the need for us to begin the effort to persuade U.S. Congress and
policymakers," he said.
Kirk told a Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing Monday that the Korea
FTA is not acceptable as it is.
"In the case of Korea, the current -- the status quo simply isn't acceptable,"
Kirk said. "The president has said, and I agree, the agreement as it is just
simply isn't fair."
Obama, depicting the trade deal with Korea as 'badly flawed," also said in the
election campaign last year that he will not approve the Korea FTA "as it
stands," citing an imbalance in auto trade.
South Korea disputes the U.S. figures, which include hundreds of thousands of
autos produced by Hyundai Motor's plant in Alabama.
South Korea's National Assembly is split on the Korea-U.S. FTA, with the
opposition citing inaction in Washington.
Kirk said he will prioritize the Panama FTA among the three pending agreements
with South Korea, Panama and Colombia, citing labor violence in Colombia.
South Korean officials say there won't be problems with labor and environmental
standards often cited by U.S. congressional Democrats as a possible hurdle to
early legislative approval.
The chief U.S. trade negotiator-designate said that South Korea "presents one of
the biggest economic opportunities we have of all of the bilateral agreements out
there," but threatened to "step away from that if we don't get that right."
South Korea's refusal to import beef from cattle over 30 months old is another
thorny issue.
Seoul and Washington agreed to limit shipments of beef from older cattle after
the resumption of U.S. beef imports caused a public outcry in South Korea last
summer on health concerns.
Cows younger than 30 months old are less susceptible to mad cow disease, a case
of which occurred in the U.S. in 2003, leading to suspension of shipments to
South Korea and other countries.
U.S. beef regained its status as the biggest selling product in South Korea
against Korean and Australian beef just months after full scale imports began
again late last year.
WASHINGTON, March 11 (Yonhap) -- The new South Korean ambassador to the United States, Han Duck-soo, said Wednesday he was confident that a pending free trade deal between South Korea and the U.S. will eventually be ratified despite growing protectionist sentiment in the U.S.
"There is no task which we cannot resolve." Han told South Korean correspondents
here. "I will try my best to persuade U.S. government officials, Congress and
industry (of the benefits of ratifying) the Korea-U.S. FTA."
Han, a former South Korean prime minister who replaced his predecessor Lee
Tae-sik just days earlier, said that he was not fazed by U.S. Trade
Representative nominee Ron Kirk's negative comments on the FTA days earlier.
"That explains the need for us to begin the effort to persuade U.S. Congress and
policymakers," he said.
Kirk told a Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing Monday that the Korea
FTA is not acceptable as it is.
"In the case of Korea, the current -- the status quo simply isn't acceptable,"
Kirk said. "The president has said, and I agree, the agreement as it is just
simply isn't fair."
Obama, depicting the trade deal with Korea as 'badly flawed," also said in the
election campaign last year that he will not approve the Korea FTA "as it
stands," citing an imbalance in auto trade.
South Korea disputes the U.S. figures, which include hundreds of thousands of
autos produced by Hyundai Motor's plant in Alabama.
South Korea's National Assembly is split on the Korea-U.S. FTA, with the
opposition citing inaction in Washington.
Kirk said he will prioritize the Panama FTA among the three pending agreements
with South Korea, Panama and Colombia, citing labor violence in Colombia.
South Korean officials say there won't be problems with labor and environmental
standards often cited by U.S. congressional Democrats as a possible hurdle to
early legislative approval.
The chief U.S. trade negotiator-designate said that South Korea "presents one of
the biggest economic opportunities we have of all of the bilateral agreements out
there," but threatened to "step away from that if we don't get that right."
South Korea's refusal to import beef from cattle over 30 months old is another
thorny issue.
Seoul and Washington agreed to limit shipments of beef from older cattle after
the resumption of U.S. beef imports caused a public outcry in South Korea last
summer on health concerns.
Cows younger than 30 months old are less susceptible to mad cow disease, a case
of which occurred in the U.S. in 2003, leading to suspension of shipments to
South Korea and other countries.
U.S. beef regained its status as the biggest selling product in South Korea
against Korean and Australian beef just months after full scale imports began
again late last year.
