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Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon
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An increasing number of observers believe that the long-stalled free trade agreement talks between South Korea and Japan will resume soon. Japan is so enthusiastic about the idea that it has been sending messages, both direct and indirect, to South Korea calling for resumptions of the talks. Many predict that during their summit, expected to be held in April, the leaders of the two countries will declare that the talks will begin again.
But in a recent interview with the Chosun Ilbo, Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon, who is in charge of the country's international FTA deals, appeared unexpectedly cautious on resuming the negotiations. "If we hastily resume the FTA talks with Japan and they end in a rupture again, this could cause problems with the wider Korea-Japan relations," Kim said.
He said, "This year's goal is to conclude FTA deals with the European Union and India during the first half of the year and have the FTA treaty with the U.S. ratified before the end of the year." Thus the resumption of FTA talks with Japan seems to be on the back burner.
Nonetheless, as befits an expert negotiator, Kim put pressure on Japan in a roundabout way, saying he hoped to see some change in attitude from their side. And he emphasized the government's desire to secure trade pacts, saying the "biggest goal" of the new administration's trade policy is to revive the economy through resource diplomacy and diversification of FTA partnerships.
-- Japan seems to be showing enthusiasm for the resumption of FTA talks with Korea.
"Yes, Japan is showing enthusiasm for the talks. But we need more time to find out how much preparations Japan has made for the talks. If the two countries resume the talks and they end in a rupture, then it will be very difficult to deal with the consequences. Therefore it's important to create an environment for the resumption of talks in a prudent way."
-- Japan is blaming Korea for the suspended FTA negotiations.
"I can't agree with Japan. In retrospect, if Japan had agreed, as it had promised, to open more than 90 percent of its agricultural market, then the bilateral talks would have gone smoothly so far."
With these remarks, Kim seemed to be pressuring Japan to produce a convincing alternative for this issue if it wants to resume the talks. He seemed confident, considering that South Korea has an advantage over Japan in FTA strategies because it concluded a trade pact with the U.S., the world's largest market, ahead of Japan.
-- Is there any possibility that Korea will begin FTA talks with China this year?
"Before we begin such bilateral talks, we should first of all finish reviewing some points. What sensitive items does each country want to protect for itself in the talks? How much protection of these sensitive items is tolerable? If the two countries can discuss these points first, then we could have productive negotiations. We'll wait until a joint research team consisting of businesspeople, academics and government officials produces the results of their study on this issue.
-- Korea and India have so far conducted nine rounds of FTA talks, with little public interest.
"The huge Indian market is a whole new world. If we succeed in advancing into the Indian market ahead of other countries, we can create great demand for iron and steel products, automobiles and home appliances."
-- If the next U.S. president is a Democrat, will it be difficult to see the U.S. Congress ratify the Korea-U.S. FTA?
"Not necessarily. Think of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The negotiations were conducted during the George H.W. Bush administration, but the treaty was ratified during the Bill Clinton administration. When he was a presidential candidate, President Clinton strongly opposed the NAFTA talks. (Even if it wins the presidential election) the Democratic Party won't ignore the need to expand trade for the continued growth of the U.S. economy."
-- Some people argue that the Korea-U.S. FTA treaty was concluded to our disadvantage.
"People want these deals to be advantageous only for us. But as you know, negotiations can't always bring advantages. In this regard, it's really difficult to win 100 percent support from the public."
-- In every round of FTA negotiations, a bone of contention is whether to recognize products made in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the inter-Korean project, as made in South Korea.
"In the same context, the Korea-U.S. FTA talks gave top priority to solving the North Korean nuclear issue. This grand principle is still unchanged."
-- International debate on global warming has heated up in earnest. What is your policy on this?
"In December last year, the Bali roadmap was adopted for negotiations for a new treaty to combat global warming that would start in 2013. For the next two years, difficult negotiations will continue to discuss how much greenhouse gas emissions each country can reduce. We will participate in concrete talks based on three principles -- a wide range of countries should participate in the negotiations, different obligations should be imposed on different countries, and richer countries should use more technologies and money for poorer nations."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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