Korea-U.S. FTA reaches end of convoluted road

The Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement was approved by Korea’s National Assembly on Tuesday, putting an end to a tumultuous process that dragged on for more than four years.

The path leading to Tuesday’s development began in 2003, when the government drew up an FTA roadmap that included forming such pacts with mega-economies like the U.S.

In the following year the concept became a working process with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative expressing interest in forming a free trade pact with Korea.

Following three rounds of pre-negotiation talks and several meetings between the U.S. and Korean trade ministers, official talks were underway in June 2006.

The negotiations were concluded after eight rounds, and the pact was signed in Washington on June 30, 2007.

The related processes, however, took a turn for the worse after the conclusion of the talks.

In the following four years, differing views regarding the pact led to demonstrations and outbreaks of violence between opposing lawmakers in the National Assembly.

A wide variety of Korean organizations ranging from labor unions and civic groups to agricultural workers staged mass demonstrations opposing the pact, while Democrats in the U.S. opposed the deal citing potential damage to U.S. concerns, including the automotive industry.

In April 2008, after the age-limit on U.S. beef exports was lowered, the Lee Myung-bak administration still faced widespread criticism and candlelight demonstrations.

However, the Korea-U.S. FTA regained momentum in June, when U.S. President Barack Obama instructed his government to work with Korea to resolve the differences.

As a result, additional talks were held and the two sides reached common ground in December 2010 with Korea making a number of concessions regarding several issues, including the automotive sector.

In the following months, the U.S. took the lead in ratifying the pact and on Oct. 21, this year, the U.S. completed its side of the process with Obama signing the act on the implementation of the deal.

On the Korean side, however, five opposition parties formed an alliance and called for what they referred to as “re-renegotiation” of 10 clauses and two supplementary measures.

With the opposition parties remaining dead-set against its ratification, the process of approving the pact required National Assembly Vice Speaker Rep. Chung Ui-hwa of the ruling Grand National Assembly to invoke his right to set up a full-house vote without going through the committee-level deliberation process.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)