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The current delay in the parliament¡¯s approving the Korea-Chile free trade agreement (FTA) is largely due to a lack of leadership from President Roh Moo-hyun, a state-run think tank pointed out Friday.
In a report on international issues, the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS), affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, ¡°Given the typical policy-making process in Korea, the strong leadership necessary for pushing FTAs should come from the top policy maker. It is regrettable that such leadership hasn't been exercised from the start of the ratification process of the FTA with Chile.¡±
Furthermore, the IFANS report advised that the president could learn from the leadership shown by former U.S. President Bill Clinton in the process of ratifying the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
It is very rare for a government affiliate to point out the lack of presidential leadership.
¡°Because FTAs should be pushed pan-nationally at the state management strategy level rather than as a simple trade policy, they require the president¡¯s political resolution and powerful leadership so that various opinions raised in the process can be coordinated. In the case of the FTA with Chile, however, the leadership has not worked effectively up until now,¡± the report said. ¡°In addition, FTAs are an issue to be dealt with on the basis of national consensus, so the president needs to actively take advantage of the support he gets from the people who will benefit from the accords.¡±
(Lee Ha-won, may2@chosun.com )
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