Congressmen urge Obama to expedite process to ratify KORUS

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- A bipartisan group of Congressmen has urged U.S.
President Barack Obama to expedite the process for the ratification of a free
trade deal with South Korea pending for more than two years.

In a letter submitted to Obama Friday ahead of the U.S. President's visit to
Seoul later this month, Adam Smith (D-Washington) and 87 other Congressmen said,
"We urge you to prepare the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement for
congressional consideration."
Among the other congressmen are 43 Democrats and 44 Republicans, including Ike
Skelton (D-Missouri), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Dave
Reichert (R-Washington) and Joseph Crowley (D-New York).
They recognized that "there are still some concerns with the agreement" and urged
Obama to "engage with South Korea to resolve these matters."
Autos and beef have been major hurdles to congressional approval of the KORUS FTA.
U.S. officials have said they favor side agreements to address the issues rather
than revising the text of the deal itself.
Many Democrats are concerned that giving the deal a final nod would draw a
backlash from trade unions -- a political power base for the party -- as fears
mount over job losses amid the country's worst recession in decades.
The Obama administration is also focused on other priorities such as health care
reform and the war in Afghanistan.
Jeffrey Bader, senior director for East Asian affairs at the National Security
Council, said Friday that Obama needs to take political consideration in
submitting the deal to Congress for approval.
"We want to ensure that the Korea FTA does provide access for U.S. automobiles to
the Korean market," he said. "But the timing of when this can be done and what is
politically seizable are very political."
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Thursday that his office was "developing
proposals that will enable us to address concerns with respect to automotive
trade."
"All we are asking for is for our own auto companies to be able to compete on a
level playing field in the Korean market," he said. "We are also looking at
concerns with respect to agricultural products more broadly to see how they can
be addressed most effectively."
In the letter, the Congressmen noted the benefits from the Korea FTA's ratification.
"South Korea is the world's 14th largest economy and is already our seventh
largest trading partner," they said. "KORUS is the most economically beneficial
trade agreement the United States has negotiated in 15 years."
The Korea FTA is the largest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade
Agreement took effect in 1994.
"Furthermore, preparing KORUS for Congressional consideration would continue our
partnership with a democratic ally that has a strong record on labor rights and
environmental protection," they said. "Moreover, KORUS can be an important part
of the administration's effort to reengage Asia."
The deal will also help "enhance our strategic alliance" with South Korea, they
said.
"Finally, we are concerned about the potential impact on U.S. competitiveness and
jobs by not moving forward on KORUS," the lawmakers said.
South Korea recently initialed a similar free trade deal with the European Union,
anticipating its implementation in mid-2010.
Seoul has also ratified a free trade pact with India and is seeking similar
agreements with China, Japan, Canada, Australia, the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations, and several other nations.
While meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in June, Obama agreed to
make efforts to "chart a way forward," and said he will seek the appropriate
"political timing" for the submission of the Korea FTA to Congress "once we have
resolved some of the substantive issues."
South Korean Ambassador Han Duck-soo earlier this week called on Congress to
approve the Korea FTA by next summer, fearing that a failure to do so could push
the ratification back to after 2011, owing to Congressional elections next
November.
Han asserted that the implementation of the deal "will create 240,000 new jobs
for the U.S. and increase U.S. gross domestic product by up to US$11 billion."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said earlier this week that "the U.S. could suffer a
net loss of nearly 350,000 jobs, US$35 billion in export sales, and $40 billion
in GDP if it fails to implement its pending trade agreement with Korea while the
European Union moves ahead with its own agreement with Korea."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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