The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement

The U.S. and the Republic of South Korea are negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which would be the largest free trade agreement since NAFTA in 1994. The negotiations haven't been finished yet, but the demands that the Bush Administration made prior to the opening of trade negotiations, and the history of U.S.-Korea trade, make it clear what the FTA would mean for the people of both countries:

MORE GAS EMISSIONS

In November of 2005, the South Korean government relaxed rules on automobile exhaust standards, in order to pave the way for the imports of larger, more polluting U.S. automobiles. In the Union of Concerned Scientists' 2004 report on the environmental performance of the six largest automakers in the U.S. market, the Big Three (Ford, GM and Chrysler) ranked fourth, fifth and sixth. Ford publicly walked away from its commitment to improve the fuel economy of its SUVs. The U.S.-Korea FTA will lead to more polluting cars on the roads in Korea, make it harder to improve emissions standards in the U.S., and make global warming that much worse.

MORE EXPENSIVE DRUGS

In October of 2005, the South Korean government suspended pharmaceutical price markdowns, which had successfully lowered drug costs. Instead of negotiating a trade agreement that will raise drug prices in Korea, undermine Korea's universal healthcare system, and make it harder to take effective action on drug prices in the U.S., we should be working for build a universal care and lower prescription drug prices in the U.S.

ATTACKS ON WORKERS' RIGHTS

In the 1960s and 1970s, American manufacturers moved thousands of industrial jobs to Korea, where a military dictatorship repressed workers and trade unions. In the 1980s and 1990s, a powerful labor movement emerged in Korea, improving wages and working conditions. The increasing repression of labor in Korea associated with the U.S.-Korea FTA, and the removal of trade barriers, will once again give corporations an incentive to move work from the U.S. to Korea.

More information:
Korea Policy Institute
Korean-Americans Against War and Neoliberalism
Korean Alliance Against the FTA (in English)