S. Korea Pushes U.S. Trade Deal, Warns Of Job Loss

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea's trade chief urged Washington on Tuesday to implement a stalled free trade deal, warning the U.S. could lose several hundred thousand jobs if it fails to act and Seoul's agreement with the European Union takes effect.

"I think the package overall is a very good deal for both of us," Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said of South Korea's agreement with the United States. He cited a recent U.S. study suggesting the country could lose nearly 350,000 jobs if it does not ratify and implement the deal with South Korea while Europe and others do. "That's a big loss," he said.

Kim, who was speaking to European business executives, said he expects the EU agreement take effect sometime next year.

South Korea, which has a national policy of pursuing free trade agreements, has reached deals with Brussels and Washington, though both have yet to be ratified. The accord with the U.S., signed more than two years ago, is stuck in political limbo amid dissatisfaction in Washington over a yawning gap in auto trade between the two countries.

South Korea has said it is not open to any new negotiations with the U.S. over the deal, though President Lee Myung-bak said last week during a press conference with President Barack Obama that Seoul was willing to discuss the auto issue.

Kim said Tuesday that Lee's remarks should not be seen as a willingness to reconsider the agreement.

"Renegotiation is not an option for me, for my government, no," Kim told reporters after his appearance before the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea. He said it would be akin to opening a "Pandora's Box."

Two-way trade between South Korea and the U.S. came to $84.8 billion in 2008, making the U.S. Seoul's fourth-biggest trading partner after China, the European Union and Japan. Bilateral trade between South Korea and the 27-nation EU came to $98.4 billion.

South Korea has huge surpluses in auto trade with both the U.S. and the EU.

Figures from auto industry groups in South Korea show that it exported 598,126 vehicles to the U.S. in 2008, while purchasing 6,980 made by American manufacturers. Figures also show the country bought 32,756 vehicles from EU states last year, while exporting 408,934 vehicles to them.

South Korea has free trade agreements in force with Chile, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Free Trade Association, which comprises Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. It has ratified an agreement with India that is expected to take effect early next year and is negotiating deals with 11 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Peru, Australia and New Zealand.

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Jobs? We don't need no "stinkin'" jobs! 11/24/2009 12:35:00 PM Big deal. Barack has lost way more than that all by himself AND spent $BB in the process with no end in sight. What's a couple hundred thousand more give or take?
South Korea 11/24/2009 1:09:00 PM Cut S. Korean imports until their imports of our goods matched the amount of junk they shipped us. They'd starve to death!
US had better wake up! 11/24/2009 3:03:00 PM Senseless talk will only fuel further stupid moves. The fact is that Washington has demonstrated poor commercial negotiating skills for decades. This is why we are in our import imbalance situation in the first place. I would not discount the value of having Korea as a trading partner. They are staunchly pro-US, and want US goods. However, it is very much true that the automotive situation with them is out of wack. If the deal is bad, renegotiate. If they are not interested, I'm sure a few smart guys here could figure out why. I am astounded how lame, lazy and not-technical our politicians and economists are as compared with the Asian countries. We need Korea as a trading partner. We cannot let them become spoiled like Japan and China.
Trade agreements 11/24/2009 10:31:00 PM All the US has to do is negotiate a trade aggreement that stipulates that the total trade imbalance shall not exceed 10 or 15%.Those tit for tat dumping arguments will stop immediately. Foreign governments will have to control and distribute what they ship to the US. Most of all, encouraging consumption of US goods in their country would benefit both.
SK Staunchly US??... 11/25/2009 12:49:00 AM The comment about South Korea being pro-US is WAY OFF. Younger SKs hate the US and that feeling is deepening. This is a bias from a person who spent three years studying with SKs (from SK...not SK-Americans) overseas in Japan. The US has been blamed for "keeping Korea weak by seperating North and South". They do not "want US goods", were a military dictatorship until 1986, have been an economic one until the present, very nationalistic and if it wasnt for the US opening its market.....they would look, act, etc. a lot more like their Northern neighbors now. "Spoiled" Japan and China are funding the US deficit. Japan has been by a wide margin the strongest supporter of the US providing most of the ODA, FDI and treasury bond money over the longest period of time. They also spent the most on the US Gulf Wars. They spend over 95% of the costs of US bases in Japan. The Chinese now are increasingly funding the US deficit that acts as a support for their industry (ie sell into the US market)...and are preferred over investing in the US and managing Americans in the US (like the Japanese have done exceedingly well--- see the auto industry for an illustration). The depiction of countries like Korea and India as equal competitors, etc. to countries like Japan and China is patently ridiculous...

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