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The chairman of the National Assembly's Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee on Monday night stirred up a demure Korea-U.S. party in Seoul by linking tariffs on goods from an inter-Korean joint venture to America¡¯s role in dividing the two Koreas.
Kim Won-wung, who is a Uri Party lawmaker, said the demand to include goods from the Kaesong Industrial Complex north of the border in a free trade pact with Washington ¡°has something to do with the U.S. paying the historic debt it owes over the division.¡±
¡°If the two Koreas hadn¡¯t been divided, the Korean War would not have occurred, which in turn would have eliminated the need to create the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the first place,¡± Kim told startled guests at the party marking the second round of bilateral FTA negotiations at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on Monday evening.
Kim expressed hope to see U.S. companies operate in the Kaesong complex ¡°and Americans buy affordable quality products produced in the North Korean complex.¡± That, he said, would help the U.S. ¡°to repay its historic debt it owes for dividing the two Koreas and help South Koreans see genuine will in the U.S. to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.¡±
Kim told reporters by phone on Tuesday his remarks were intended to stress that the Kaesong Industrial Complex ¡°plays an important role in unifying the two Koreas, and the U.S., one of the powers that divided the two, needs to offer assistance to the North Korean complex.¡± After liberation from Japanese rule in 1945, Korea was divided by the Allies roughly along the current border, with the South put under U.S. administration.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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