Texy Fwd: Administration prepares for formal KORUS FTA renegotiation 행정부, 공식적인 한-미 재햡상 준비

Hankyoreh
Administration prepares for formal KORUS FTA renegotiation
:Though auto and beef provisions remain most contentious, complete renegotiations could spell changes in other sectors
Nov. 19, 2010
By Jung Eun-joo　

The Lee Myung-bak administration officially announced Thursday that renegotiations are to take place on the South Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA).

In a press briefing at the Central Government Complex on Seoul’s Sejongno Road, FTA negotiator Choi Suk-young said, “To date, we have used the term ‘discussion,’ but in order to deal with the official plan presented by the United States at the bilateral trade ministers’ meeting, we will have to approach items involving revisions to the agreement text.”

However, Choi stressed that this would a partial renegotiation dealing only with the U.S. demands rather than a full renegotiation.

“We are not taking the whole thing apart and putting it back together,” Choi said. “We are carrying out extremely limited partial renegotiation in order to discuss the items presented by the United States.”

At the bilateral trade ministers’ meeting and working-level trade discussions ahead of the Seoul G-20 Summit, the U.S. demanded full revision of the existing agreement text, including the extension of the deadline for abolishing the 2.5 percent tariff on Korean automobiles, the introduction of safeguards in the automobile sector, and the abolition of duty drawback for automobile parts.

Choi’s briefing Thursday marks the first time Seoul has announced the renegotiations with the United States to the press.

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