'저는 그들의 땅을 지키기 위하여 싸웠던 인디안들의 이야기를 기억합니다. 백인들이 그들의 신성한 숲에 도로를 만들기 위하여 나무들을 잘랐습니다. 매일밤 인디안들이 나가서 백인들이 만든 그 길을 해체하면 그 다음 날 백인들이 와서 도로를 다시 짓곤 했습니다. 한동안 그 것이 반복되었습니다. 그러던 어느날, 숲에서 가장 큰 나무가 백인들이 일할 동안 그들 머리 위로 떨어져 말과 마차들을 파괴하고 그들 중 몇몇을 죽였습니다. 그러자 백인들은 떠났고 결코 다시 오지 않았습니다….' (브루스 개그논)





For any updates on the struggle against the Jeju naval base, please go to savejejunow.org and facebook no naval base on Jeju. The facebook provides latest updates.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Text Fwd: MINBYUN calls for disclosure about KORUS FTA visas

Hankyoreh
MINBYUN calls for disclosure about KORUS FTA visas
:The organization says MOFAT backtracked on previously announced visas as part of KORUS FTA negotiations
Posted on : May.16,2011 14:10 KST
By Jung Eun-joo

South Korean civic organization MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society filed an administrative lawsuit against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) on May 15, demanding that the ministry make public a letter on professional worker visa quotas that former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Kim Hyun-chong is said to have received from the U.S. administration. This will lead to legal clarification of the truth regarding the controversy over the South Korean government’s changed words about U.S. professional working visas.

The U.S. completely abolished limits on the number of visas issued to professional workers when concluding its FTA with Canada, and promised more than 5,000 such visas each to Mexico and Singapore, but showed reluctance to do the same during negotiations with South Korea for the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), saying that this was a matter to be decided by Congress.

Kim stated that he obtained a letter on professional visa quotas after threatening to not attend the official FTA signing ceremony. Former KORUS FTA chief negotiator Kim Jong-hoon (now trade minister) also declared openly to Korean correspondents in Washington that although Australia had received 15,000 professional worker visas 10 months after concluding an FTA with the U.S., Korea would receive a higher number.

Since then, however, MOFAT has completely changed its story. In materials sent to Democratic Party Lawmaker Park Joo-sun last November, MOFAT stated that there was no such thing as a separate professional working visa quota for South Korea alone. The materials also deflected responsibility onto the US Congress, saying that as immigration came under the jurisdiction of Congress, no FTA concluded by US administrations since 2003 had involved visa quotas.

When MINBYUN demanded in March this year that Kim make public the letter on professional visa quotas that he had mentioned in a book, MOFAT refused, saying, “That is not information that was acquired as part of [Kim’s] official duty and it is not kept by us.” Ultimately, the full story of the broken promises made by the two states on professional working visas, and its breaking, will have to be revealed by way of a legal battle.
Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]
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See also
Hankyoreh
S.Korea becomes no. 1 importer of U.S. beef
:The U.S. will seek to further expand exports following implementation of the KORUS FTA
May 16, 2011

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