For a bilateral free trade agreement, the Korea-U.S. FTA is the world’s largest in scale. For Korea, the latest deal encompasses the largest area among all of the multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations. That means the latest agreement entails the greatest socioeconomic impact among any international treaty or trade pact for Korea.

It is difficult to put in numbers all of the economic gains and losses that the Korea-U.S. FTA would bring. There are many areas that are difficult to measure and there are various overlapping interests among different sectors. Competitive export industries stand to gain a better footing in the key U.S. market, with an average 4.9 percent U.S. tariffs either being abolished or lowered. Automobiles, textiles, components and materials and television sets fall in this category. Compact automobiles in particular could become hot export items for Korea when their 25 percent tariff gets lowered in the United States. Shortened customs processing periods in U.S. ports, that can take up to five days, will be shortened to less than 48 hours, greatly benefiting Korean exporters.

Our key export items, including mobile phones, semiconductor chips, computers and steel have been enjoying tariff-free status since the latter half of the 1990s, so there won’t be many changes there. But exports of Korean steel are expected to rise, with eased regulations seen drastically lowering the instances of anti-dumping lawsuits.

In contrast, industrial sectors that are less competitive are expected to face difficulties due to increased competition from rising imports of American-made products. Korea’s agricultural sector is a key example of this and so are the precision machinery and fine chemicals sectors as well. The patent periods of newly developed drugs and copyrights will increase, raising the financial burden on Korean pharmaceutical companies and businesses involved in the culture and entertainment industries, due to increased royalties and usage fees. That’s why there have been forecasts that the Korea’s trade balance with the United States would worsen by $4.2 billion to $5.2 billion over the next seven to 10 years.

But the invisible impact of a Korea-U.S. FTA is far more important that these economic figures. Most of all, market opening can prompt reforms in Korean regulations and practices to match global standards, while the introduction of advanced technologies and management methods can improve Korea’s industrial structure. Korean distribution sector trembled in fear when the government opened up that market in 1996. But the increased competition allowed Korean companies to learn how to improve their business styles and Walmart and Carrefour ended up leaving Korea, unable to compete with domestic players.

It’s too bad that 88 service industries, including education and medical services, were left out of the market-opening measures. There were hopes that the Korea-U.S. FTA would make Korea’s service sector more competitive. The educational and medical service sectors were excluded from the list, because the United States did not request an opening of those markets, while other service industries were excluded due to fierce protest from workers. Seoul and Washington cut a deal, excluding these sectors out of a deal, not only to soothe opponents, but also to conclude the talks by the set deadline.

Market opening will also make more affordable and high quality products and services available for Korean consumers. The Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) forecasts Korean consumers will save $26.3 billion over the next seven to 10 years due to the increased availability of more goods and services. As confidence grows over the Korean economy, foreign direct investment is expected to rise by another $40.4 billion.

We will undoubtedly experience a growing wage disparity among workers employed in competitive and not-so-competitive sectors. This side effect must not be ignored. Industrial restructuring to boost the competitiveness of the Korean economy will not be a smooth process. The agricultural and service sectors could see 85,000 jobs disappear and if the government cannot control the side effects of these changes, then it will be difficult for the Korea-U.S. FTA to lead Korea’s economy on the road to further advancement.

The reason why the Korean government pushed ahead with an FTA with the United States is because it believed that was the only way the Korean economy, sandwiched between intense competition from China and Japan, would be able to survive. And in order for that to happen, we must make sure no one is left out in terms of the opportunities an FTA with the United States brings. Companies that cannot survive against U.S. competition must strengthen themselves by finding new areas of business, while the government should come up with measures that protect the livelihood of farmers and laborers.