Twelve Reasons Why We Should Oppose the Korea-US FTA

The 99% against the Korea-US FTA of the 1%.

<This is a text version of the leaflet we have been using for candlelight vigil taking place every night in Seoul. You can see PDF version of the original Korean leaflet here. Christian Park made this translation>

Without a doubt, the Korea-US FTA is an agreement only for the rich 1% and big businesses. It will increase the prices of medicines and medical fees jeopardizing the health care system. Once introduced, the Investor-State Dispute settlement (ISD) will prevent public regulators from curbing the corporate greed. The Korea-US FTA will privatize public corporations which will jack up the utility

fees. It is a one-way ticket to privatization. There is no turning back for privatized and unregulated public corporations even if prices go out of control. Any mechanism to protect small and medium businesses will be in violation of the Korea-US FTA and South Korea agriculture will collapse. The Korea-US FTA is good only for the rich 1% and the big businesses in the US and South Korea.

1. Skyrocketing prices of medicines and medical fees will threaten the health care system.

The Korea-US FTA will extend the patent delaying the introduction of low price generic drugs (approval-paten linkage). Moreover, it will allow multinational pharmaceutical companies to reject the price control by the government (independent review process). As a result, patients’ medical cost will go through the roof jeopardizing the health care budget. With the ratification of the Korea-US FTA, the conditional operation of for-profit hospitals in free economic zones in 20 cities will become permanent. The medical fees of for-profit hospitals are much more higher than that of not-for-profit hospitals. In the end, they will drive the entire medical cost up.

2. The Investor-State Dispute (ISD) will incapacitate public and welfare policies. 

They say the Korea-US FTA will not effect the public policies. Nothing could be farthest from the truth. According to the Korea-US FTA, multinational corporations can bring the South Korean government to the international arbitration tribunal to demand compensation. The South Korean government has no choice but to be dragged into a costly arbitration process. This is because of the automatic consent clause. The Canadian government was brought to the arbitration tribunal when it banned the disposal of hazardous wastes by designating green-belt zones.

The ISD system is not a universal mechanism. The current negotiation for the DDA at the WTO has rejected the adoption of ISD. If the ISD system is included in the Korea-US FTA, then the South Korean government has no choice but to accept the decision of the arbitration tribunal. If the government rejects the decision, then there will be trade retaliation. It would make the regulation

of corporations for public interest impossible. It will make a paradise for multinational corporations but greatly diminish the power of the South Korean government to implement public policies.

3. There will be a flood of privatizations and jack up the prices including utility fees.

In Cochabamba, Bolivia, a country with the minimum wage of $60, a monthly water bill skyrocketed to $20 after the privatization of the city water company.Residents of Cochabamba locked the water faucets in fear that children might use them and drank rainwater. One of the companies that belonged to the privatized water network, Bechtel, argued that even rain water should be charged since it belonged to them. During the crisis, the Bolivian government did not try to re-nationalize the water works in fear that it might be brought to the ISD system.

The South Korean government is planning to privatize railroads and gas. Once they are privatized, it is inevitable that the prices will rise. However, the government won’t be able to re-nationalize them once the Korea-US FTA is ratified because of ratchet mechanisms. South Korean ordinary working people are already suffering from high prices. Surely, the Korea-US FTA will further increase the utility fess.

4. There will be a massacre of local shops.

Even today, with one large retailer operated supermarket in the neighborhood most of local shops are forced to close. These so called super supermarkets like E-Mart and Homeplus compete with local shops and restaurants with low price products and foods. With the Korea-US FTA, these super supermarkets will thrive more with less regulations. What was once a dream for ordinary working people who are forced to retire early or lost jobs to opening a local shop or a pizzeria has become a nightmare.

5. Say goodbye to foreign currency control even in a time of foreign currency crisis.

When the 1997 Asian financial crisis hit South Korea foreign capitals quickly withdrew like an out-going tide. At such a time, a government can respond with financial safeguards like temporary limiting international transfers of foreign capitals. The Korea-US FTA make it clear that the pre-condition for any financial safeguard is that it will not harm commercial, economical, and financial interests of the US. Once in effect, the Korea-US FTA will make it impossible to control the flow of foreign currency even in a time of foreign currency crisis.

6. The Korea-US FTA will hurt South Korea’ trade balance.

What happened after the Korea-US FTA? South Korea’s trade surplus with the EU dropped by 3.7 billion dollars. They say that the Korea-US FTA will increase South Korea’s exports to the US. But the US is in an economic crisis. Millions of Americans are out of jobs and many lost their houses. The unemployment rate is stuck at 10%.

Even if we take the argument at face value, an increase of exports does not necessarily leads to more jobs or better life for ordinary working people. After the NAFTA, the US trade surplus increased but 700,000 jobs in the US were reduced. How about Mexico? Mexico’s exports increased also. However, the economic situations of ordinary working people worsened. Polarization increased to a point only 13 million out of the 40 million working age population

had full-time jobs. Big businesses and the rich got more rich while working people got poorer.

7. The Korea-US FTA destroys Korean agriculture.

Prices of US and EU agricultural products are the cheapest in the world. Simply, it is because the US and EU governments give the biggest subsidies in the world. The farmers in the US annually receive around 22 billion dollars from the US government in direct subsidies. This is incredible compared to the amount the Korean farmers are getting. Such huge subsidies help to keep the prices of US and EU agricultural products low making it impossible for others to follow. While this is the reality, the Korea-US FTA will force the reduction of agricultural tariffs. This will destroy Korean agriculture.

8. The Korea-US FTA destroys environment.

The US government stated four pre-conditions to the signing of the Korea-US FTA demanded. One of them is eliminating the tax levied to automobiles with high carbon dioxide emission. As a result, South Korea is forced to drop the environment protection policy that taxes automobiles with high carbon dioxide emission. This is going against the global efforts to stop global warming. One of the many deregulations is related to GMO foods.

9. The Korea-US FTA is an unfair and unequal agreement.

Article 102 of the US implementing bill on the Korea-US FTA makes it clear that US law comes first in cases where the Korea-US FTA comes into conflict with the former. In contrast, the Korea-US FTA comes first in cases of conflicts with Korean law. The Korea-US FTA is treated as a domestic law in South Korea. The

US implementing bill prohibits South Korean companies doing business in the US filing a legal suit in the US court in case of FTA related violation.

10. Integration of South Korea into the US-led world order will increase the regional tension in Northeast Asia.

The Korea-US FTA is not just an economic agreement. It will further integrate South Korea into the US-led world order politically and militarily. Northeast Asia is a highly volatile region where China and the US go head to head economically and militarily. The Korea-US FTA will only increase the tension. Will the strengthening of the military alliance between South Korea and the US bring peace in the region? Uncritical strengthening of the military alliance between South Korea and the US will bring more danger to the region and do harm to realizing peace in the Korean peninsula.

11. This FTA is only for the 1%.

The Korea-US FTA is not a battle between South Koreans and American. It is not only the US big businesses that are supporting the Korea-US FTA. Korean big businesses like jaebeols are welcoming it with open arms and actively promoting it in media advertisements. Why is this? Privatization of the public sector in

South Korea would bring huge profits not only to the US big businesses but also to the Korean big businesses. For example the privatization of healthcare would give profit-making opportunities to not only the US health insurance companies but also the Korean health insurance companies. Is this win-win for everyone?

What happens to the ordinary working people? Prices of all sorts of public sector goods like gas, electricity, railroad, etc. will increase. Prices of medicine and medical care will also go up jeopardizing the finance of the national health insurance. Mom and pop stores will go out of business. The number of precarious workers will increase. Free and organic school food service would be impossible. The Korea-US FTA will deepen the polarization giving more to the rich 1% while taking more from the 99%.

12. The 99% can stop the Korea-US FTA.

Should every country accept it unconditionally just because the US government is pushing for the FTA? The answer is no. The US government has already tried to sign an FTA with Latin America (FTAA). But it failed when confronted with the protests from the people of Latin America. Matter of fact, all the FTAs that the US

government initiated with countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia failed or are not going anywhere. There is an exception though. It is the Korea-US FTA. It is still alive. South Korea successfully blocked the full lift of the ban on the import of US beefs from cattle aged 30 or more months with the massive candlelight protests. If everyone stands up and say no to FTA, we can stop the Korea-US FTA. The 99% can stop the Korea-US FTA which is only for the 1%.

The Hidden History of the Korea-US FTA

This is a very interesting article posted on the Korea Policy Institute.

Korea-US Trade Agreement: The Hidden History

Tim Shorrock* | October 22, 2011

[Originally published on October 12, 2011 on TimShorrock.com]

Nine Facts about the Korea-US FTA

This fact sheet was created and distributed by the Korean American for Fair Trade on May 2011, i.e., before the U.S. Congress approved the Korea-US FTA mid-October.

THE FACTS

#1 The Korea-US FTA is a Bush legacy that pre-dates the financial crisis and contains many provisions that would further deregulate finance and banking at a time when we are still trying to build a sustainable, transparent and just economy. Why is Obama trying to pass a Bushera agreement that further deregulates our economy? 

#2 The Korea-US FTA’s dispute resolution clause allows investors in both countries to sue the other country’s government and courts for laws and rulings that impede their maximum profit. We saw this under NAFTA, when the state of California was sued by a Canadian transnational for banning a chemical deadly to humans and the environment. We cannot privilege investors over our democratic systems and our lives. 

#3 Because the FTA was signed under FastTrack authority, Congress can only vote Yes or NO on the FTA once it is introduced, and once passed, this FTA cannot be repealed. Unlike other bills, Congress cannot change the actual features of the trade deal. Meanwhile, corporate interests have been lobbying hard and spending millions to pass this deal quickly, without a larger debate among the American public or in the media. This is an undemocratic process where your voice must be heard. 

#4 While Obama argues that an increase in exports will lead to job growth, we only need look at NAFTA and the industries that benefit from the FTA to see that exports may not lead to jobs. We will be losing even more quality manufacturing jobs and replacing them, if at all, with low.wage service jobs. Independent think tank Economic Policy Institute estimated that the US would lose approximately 159,000 jobs through the Korea FTA, while 55,000 jobs would be lost through the Colombia-US FTA. 

#5 Worker rights and job security will be threatened in both countries. This is due to the Korea-US FTA’s ‘rule of origin’ provision, which allows up to 65% of the foreign materials in US or Korean goods to be exempt from tariffs and encourages the off.shoring of jobs. This means that American goods made elsewhere, such as in Mexican maquiladoras (factories in special economic zones intended to draw investors with lower taxes and fewer worker protections ), and Korean goods made in China would be largely tariff.free. and benefit the transnational corporations that are already profiting greatly from cheap labor. We cannot afford to further undermine worker protections and rights. 

#6 The FTA has been used to dismantle Korea’s environmental and public health laws, and in turn, threatens America’s future environmental policy. Through negotiations, Korea agreed to a side deal which overturned its 2000 law that kept genetically modified organisms (GMOs) out of Korea’s food supply. By 2008, Korea had approved 102 GMOs for import as feed or food, 70 percent from the U.S. firms Monsanto, Dupont and Dow Chemical. The Korean government also agreed to lower national emissions standards to accommodate the import of less fuel.efficient and more polluting U.S. vehicles. This would mean more greenhouse gases leading to global warming, more air pollution and related public health problems. The FTA also make the passage of future environmental conventions related to international trade more difficult because both countries would have to agree to them. 

#7 The KoreaUS FTA would devastate Korea’s farms and farmers and threaten Korea’s food security, while further filling the pockets of large US agribusinessesas American family farmers continue to be squeezed. Korea has only 4.2 million acres of farmland, compared with the US’s 434 million. The average farm size in Korea is 1.2 acres, compared with the U.S.’s 71 acres. If the FTA is implemented, it will force roughly half of Korean farmers off their land. In the US, the National Family Farm Coalition opposes the deal because only large U.S. agribusiness corporations will benefit. 

#8 If passed, the FTA would severely cripple or even dismantle Korea’s public healthcare system, and undermine the US’s chances of ever achieving universal health care or negotiating governmentset price controls. It overturns Korea’s existing public.health laws, opens the door for U.S. pharmaceutical companies even further into Korea’s markets, and it extends patents up to 75 years, making it difficult for generic medications to reach the market and making it easier for U.S. pharmaceutical companies to sue generic drug manufacturers, even after a patent expires. 

#9 The FTA undercuts the democratic process in both countries. The FTA violates 169 Korean laws. To silence the opposition, the Lee administration in Korea has turned to authoritarian practices reminiscent of past dictatorships. It has used violent police force against peaceful gatherings protesting the FTA, banned public assembly against the FTA, and issued arrest warrants for more than 170 civil society leaders who organized against the trade deal. The Lee government has also blocked anti-FTA advertising from airing on TV while running its own pro-FTA commercials.

Joint Statement of Korean lawmakers, labor unions, farmers and civil society groups on the proposed Korea-U.S. FTA

Korean National Assembly Members’ Caucus Against the Korea-US FTA
Korean Alliance Against the Korea-US FTA

For Immediate Release Jan. 27, 2011
Contact: Heesob Nam - +82-10-9981-1180, hurips@gmail.com
Mi-kyung Ryu - +82-10-9279-7106, inter@kctu.org

Joint Statement of Korean lawmakers, labor unions, farmers and civil society groups on the proposed Korea-U.S. FTA

We, the Korean National Assembly members’ Caucus Against the Korea-US FTA and the Korean Alliance Against the Korea-US FTA, a coalition of over 300 labor unions and civil society groups, have organized a delegation to Washington, D.C. this week, January 24-28, 2011. We have come here to tell American policymakers and civil society that many Korean people oppose the proposed Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KorUS FTA). During our visit, we were shocked to hear that many U.S. politicians believe that the KorUS FTA is a gift to the Korean people and will be beneficial to the relationship between both countries. In reality, many Korean people consider that the KorUS FTA will be detrimental to the lives of the Korean people, is biased in favor of the narrow interests of multinational corporations and contains numerous damaging provisions that would destroy our jobs in both countries and undermine our rights as citizens, the environment and health, and the practice and principles of democratic governance.

We came to Washington to share our strong view that the proposed KorUS FTA should not enter into force for the following reasons:

First, the proposed KorUS FTA shrinks the policy space available to our governments to promote the public interest and endangers our governments’ ability to protect public services and advance public health, food safety, workers’ and small farmers’ rights, and environmental preservation. Numerous provisions contained in the KorUS FTA conflict with the public interest policies upon which the general public relies while providing new rights and powers to a narrow class of large multinational corporations in each of our countries. While there could be a good agreement between our countries, this agreement undermines the broad interests of the people of the U.S. and the people of Korea in favor of promoting the interests of a narrow band of big corporations. In particular, the investor-state dispute procedure allows private corporations, even third-party corporations doing business either in Korea or the U.S., to bring our government to the foreign arbitration tribunals to demand compensation over public policy standards, even those that apply to domestic and foreign corporations alike. We do not understand why such a provision would be included in the KorUS FTA, given both countries have well-established rules of law and well functioning courts. Such provisions were not included in the U.S.-Australia FTA.

Second, we do not support a deal that only encourages growth-without-employment in both countries. The proposed deal pursues the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)-plus model. Yet, the U.S.’s experience with NAFTA is instructive and should not be repeated. Since NAFTA went into effect, the U.S. has experienced massive job loss in the manufacturing sector and numerous laws were challenged before foreign tribunals. Provisions of the proposed FTA will weaken the social safety net in both countries and strip crucial safeguards in a time of global economic instability and high unemployment. In addition, the proposed KorUS FTA, with its low Rules-of-Origin standards, incentivizes the off-shoring of manufacturing—and jobs. Up to 65% of products can be produced in foreign countries and exported as U.S. or Korean products, killing jobs and destabilizing the labor market in both countries.

Third, the proposed agreement promotes reckless deregulation. This agreement was negotiated prior to the financial crisis that hit the world several years ago. It promotes the very practices of financial deregulation that have so damaged the U.S. and Korean economy. The agreement conflicts with regulations that our two governments have put in place to stabilize their financial markets, posing a threat to our countries, our economic partners, and eventually to the global economy. In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, certainly we must ensure that all policies, including our “trade” agreements must preserve our governments’ authority to control and regulate investment and financial markets. However, both governments simply ignored the lessons we learnt a few years ago even when they re-negotiated the deal last year and did not alter these provisions to reflect the post-crisis lessons.

Finally, the proposed agreement has the potential to bring about an unintended harmful effect on the relationship between the U.S. and Korea. While proponents claim that the proposed agreement will strengthen our countries’ relationship, it carries the potential to have the opposite effect. Many in Korea view the agreement as having been pushed not only for economic relations. Geopolitics played a great role. The supplemental deal of the last year was struck when the military tension between the South and North Koreas was at its highest since the 1950s’ Korean War. The vast majority of Korean people believe that the outcome of the supplemental deal is an unacceptable humiliation and an overly high price to pay for the Americans’ role in providing national defense. Furthermore, if the KorUS FTA results in restricted to access to public service, job loss, deterioration of quality of life and intensified social polarization as we have seen the detrimental effect of the NAFTA model in operation in North America, the anger over the damage will be directed at the other country. When this happens, the KorUS FTA would bring conflict rather than strengthening the sense of friendship towards the other country among the ordinary people of both countries.

We appreciate the time and effort the citizens of both countries are giving to make this visit successful in preventing the negative consequences that the Korea-US FTA will have on both of our countries.

###

• Jung Bae Chun, Jong Kul Lee, and Ki Kab Kang, representing the Korean National Assembly Members’ Caucus Against the Korea-US FTA
• Heesob Nam, Hae-Young Lee, and Won Suk Park, representing the Korean Alliance Against the Korea-US FTA
• Hui-seong Jung, Mi-kyung Ryu, Ja-O Koo, Sang-je Kim, and Joo-ho Lee, representing the Korean Confederation of Trade Union
• Kwang Seok Lee and Hye Sook Kim, representing the Korean National Small Farmers’ Group

Labor Union's Position Paper on the Korea-US FTA

Why We Oppose the KORUS FTA - KCTU Position Paper on KORUS FTA

January, 2011 

General Principle 

1. Korean Confederation of Trade Union (KCTU) has great concerns about the bilateral and regional FTAs which are currently expanding in number across the world. We believe that the analysis that FTAs are bad for some industries while good for others is a somewhat narrow perspective. This is because they reduce or greatly remove the ability of governments from relatively less developed countries to pursue independent policies to meet economic and social needs and sustainable social and economic development. In addition while the provisions of FTAs systematically strengthen the rights and privileges of corporations they do not include provisions which support the democratic control of foreign investors. 

2. The KORUS FTA privilege the rights and benefits of transnational corporations over the rights of workers, consumers and the general public. We believe that the proposed KOR-US Free Trade Agreement is harmful not only for the Korean workers and working families, but for the workers and working families in the U.S. as well, since the KORUS FTA follows the ‘failed model’ of NAFTA. And it is highly likely that the agreement will have huge negative impacts on small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in the two countries, damaging the manufacturing base and worsening already unsecure employment. 

3. The KORUS FTA will systematically encourage offshoring, or global outsourcing. The “Rule-of-Origin” provisions of KORUS FTA allow up to 65% foreign content of the value of vehicles eligible for tariff-free treatment, using the Net-Cost- Method. Thus, the agreement will encourage transnational corporations(TNCs) to outsource their production to neighboring low-wage countries such as China and Mexico. This will eventually result in the breakdown of domestic manufacturing industry and unsecure employment. 

4. The experience of NAFTA demonstrates the negative impact of FTA on employment. We know that when NAFTA was being negotiated, the US, Canada and Mexican governments made many promises to their citizens - such as creation of jobs and better living standards, just as the Korean and US governments are promising today. However, 15 years of NAFTA has shown that the reality is far from what was promised. In the course of 15 years, NAFTA has eliminated more than 1 million jobs in just the US and increased irregular part-time jobs particularly in service sectors, which pay 23% to 77% less than the jobs that were replaced. 

5. Like the NAFTA, KORUS FTA also includes the notorious Investor-State Dispute provision in the Investment Chapter, which ensure private foreign investors to demand cash payment from governments for actions that could be seen to violate privileges endowed by the agreement. This is one representative example of the way KORUS FTA dramatically protect the rights of industries in a way that undermines the ability of governments to carry out policies for public interest including public services, the environment, public health and education. 

6. The American subprime mortgage crisis in 2007-09 demonstrates once more the danger of financial deregulation and urgent need of financial control. However, KORUS FTA allows all types of financial instruments including financial derivatives which are considered to trigger financial crisis in 2007-09. It will limit governments from prudently regulating financial sectors to avoid another economic crisis. 

7. The KORUS FTA will be also harmful for the sustainable relations between two nations. Many ordinary people in the South Korea believe that the US government put political pressure for getting more economic interests and concessions from the South Korean government during the FTA negotiations, even using very difficult times for South Korea when military tension of Korean peninsula highly increased in 2010. Therefore it will rise ‘anti-US sentiment’ and result in dealing negative impact on Korea US relations. We are also concerned that the agreement will promote confrontation between geographical forces and result in increasing military tension in our region between US-Japan-South Korea and China-North Korea-Russia. 

8. Therefore we call upon elected representatives, citizens and workers to oppose the KORUS FTA. We do not need NAFTA-style FTA. We need more equitable and fairer trade agreement to create decent jobs and ensure the authority of each government to carry out policies to meet social and economic needs. 

The Impact on the Manufacturing Industry and Employment 

KORUS FTA is a “Job-Killing” Pact, NOT a “Job-Creating” one. 

The KORUS FTA is advertised for the solution of employment crisis by both governments. The President Orbama announced that the Korea deal will create more than 70,000 jobs in the U.S. just after concluding supplemental agreement on December 3rd, 2010. Also, the Lee Myung-bak Government also argued that the Agreement will create around 335,000 jobs in South Korea for the next 10 years after its taking effect. However, in contrast to the expectation of both governments, the concluded KORUS FTA will not solve the employment crisis in both countries. The Korea US Free Trade Agreement(KORUS FTA) is meant to prioritize the protection of the rights and benefits of transnational corporations. Therefore, it is highly likely that the agreement will have huge negative impacts on small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in the two countries, damaging the manufacturing base and worsening already unsecure employment. FTA to Encourage Overseas Outsourcing and Damage Domestic Manufacturing Industry The KORUS FTA will systematically encourage offshoring, or global outsourcing. The “Rule-of-Origin” provisions of KORUS FTA allow up to 65% foreign content of the value of vehicles eligible for tariff-free treatment, using the Net-Cost- Method. Thus, the agreement will encourage TNCs to outsource their production to neighboring low-wage countries such as China and Mexico. This will eventually result in the breakdown of domestic manufacturing industry and unsecure employment. 

The majority of Korean manufacturing companies are small-scale businesses, and the subcontracting practices between small manufacturing companies and large conglomerates in Korea are disadvantageous to SMEs. Moreover, productivity gap between small and large companies is rising. In this context, the KORUS FTA is expected to aggravate already vulnerable Korean manufacturing sector, dealing damages to domestic small and medium-sized parts and materials manufacturers. Therefore, there is a high chance that small businesses become smaller, while resources are concentrated in a few large companies. The Agreement will cause not just a trade imbalance between the two countries in a short term, but also a devastating impact on the manufacturing basis, forcing small and medium-sized manufacturers to go bankruptcy and resulting in massive restructuring. 

In addition, the Investment Chapter of the KORUS FTA bans performance requirements. Examples of performance requirements include a technology transfer, obligation to use a certain percentage of local products, succession of employment, succession of collective agreements and obligation to hire a certain percentage of local people. This means that if the FTA increases foreign direct investment, the government cannot implement policies aimed at promoting domestic employment. Moreover, most of the global investment has recently been carried out via portfolio investment such as acquiring corporations or buying stocks. Therefore, foreign investment has come to have little to do with employment. In contrast, corporate acquisition is likely to result in massive restructuring, thus decreasing employment. 

Export Increase does not Guarantee Employment Increase 

So-called “Growth without Employment” is one of the distinctive features that characterize the era of financial globalization. The US and Korean governments have been arguing that the FTA will increase bilateral trade and create employment in both countries. However, it has already become a myth that increase in export and trade lead to a rise in employment. As for Korea, the added-value inducement coefficient of export has continuously decreased from 0.711 in 1993 to 0.600 in 2007. Meanwhile, the import inducement coefficient of export has risen from 0.367 in 2000 to 0.400 in 2007, as the Korean economy has become growingly dependent on imported parts and materials. This means that an increase in export leads to a rise in import, while employment remains relatively unchanged. The cause of this phenomenon is that large export companies have raised overseas outsourcing, while the inter-industrial effects of export industries have been reduced. As of 2005, export industries accounted for only 20 percent of overall jobs. The FTA provisions regarding Government Procurement, Rules of Origin and Investment will accelerate the trend of “Growth without Employment.” 

The U.S. is no exception for the trend of “Growth without Employment”. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA), more than a million U.S. jobs were displaced from 1993 to 2004. And according to Economic Policy Institute economist Rob Scott, the implementation of the KORUS FTA will eliminate around 159,000 American jobs.

In Conclusion, the KORUS FTA is not a “Job-Creating” FTA, but “Job-Killing” Pact. It should be emphasized that the experiences of NAFTA shows us that employment crisis cannot be solved through trade and export increase to overseas market. 

Basic Labor Rights Guaranteed Poorly in both Countries 

The guarantee of basic labor rights by the two governments is poor and many key international labor standards have not been observed. Even though stable, decent-wage jobs are replaced with temporary, precarious ones, the governments are overlooking these problems. Thus, working conditions for workers in the two countries are worsening. Workers are being forced to work more with less pay, and many of working families are thrown under the poverty line. Moreover, migrant workers are facing severe exploitation, as they are deprived of their rights. The two governments have not ratified the ILO Conventions Nos. 87 and 98, which are core international labor standards for the freedom of association. This shows that labor rights are poorly guaranteed in these countries. Labor laws of the US and Korea must be revised to guarantee workers basic labor rights widely, including right to collective bargaining and right to collective action, so that workers of both countries can equally enjoy the potential benefits of trade.

Joint Letter of the US and Korean Lawmakers

This letter was co-signed by 21 members of the U.S. Congress and 35 members of the Korean National Assembly, and sent to President Obama and President Lee on October 12, 2010. For PDF version of the original letter, click here.

Dear President Obama and President Lee:

As you begin negotiations on several outstanding issues related to the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), we ask that you take this opportunity to make meaningful changes to the underlying text. We believe that trade agreements should foster balanced and fair economic exchange between two countries. Moreover, they should be tools for alleviating poverty, advocating economic justice, promoting healthy communities, advancing human rights, and protecting the environment. We urge you to modify the agreement to reflect these ideals and craft the first, true 21st Century Free Trade Agreement.

An FTA between our two countries should not jeopardize our governments’ policies to protect public health, the environment, and public service. We ask that the language in this agreement state more explicitly our countries’ intention to maintain our high health, labor, and environmental standards. Doing so will minimize the risk of foreign corporations challenging these policies as burdensome on their businesses. In addition, it will underscore the notion that FTAs can help to advance public health, food safety, workers’ and farmers’ rights, and environmental preservation. In this regard, two particularly troubling provisions are the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism and the negative list system of services.

In the aftermath of this worldwide recession, we must preserve our governments’ right to prevent and respond to financial crises. Both of our countries took extraordinary measures to react to the current economic downturn, without which our financial systems could have collapsed and the recession made worse. We urge you to clarify explicitly that this agreement protects our governments’ ability to regulate investment or the financial markets in the event of another financial crisis.

Even without a free trade agreement, Korea and the U.S. have exchanged on average nearly $70 billion worth of goods and services each year of the last decade. Our FTA should build on this existing economic relationship and strive to make it stronger and more beneficial for both countries. We strongly support an FTA that harnesses these benefits without exposing our health, labor, and environmental standards to potential corporate challenges. Making substantive changes to the KORUS text to safeguard against these challenges will preserve the fundamental objective of the FTA – to promote economic exchange and growth in our two countries.

An FTA that prioritizes corporate interests over those of our constituents is not an agreement but a compromise of our countries’ ideals, and it is one we foresee working to defeat. We urge you to take advantage of this opportunity to improve the FTA and make KORUS the new global standard in trade agreements.

Sincerely,

Declaration of Opposition to the KOR-US FTA and Pledge to Participate in a Solidarity Hunger Strike

Join Korean Americans Against War and Neoliberalism (KAWAN)* and
the Korean Alliance Against the Korus FTA (KoA)

In Waging a Global Hunger Strike Against the Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement (KorUS FTA) and the Bush Free Trade Agenda

March 23, 2007

The United States and South Korean governments are frantically working around the clock to sign the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KorUS FTA) by April 2, when it must be submitted to Congress for a vote by July 1. If signed, the KorUS FTA will be the second largest trade deal since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

In South Korea, tens of thousands of farmers, workers, and students are organizing for a massive demonstration on March 25, 2007. Since Monday, March 19, over 100 people have been waging a hunger strike in Seoul and other cities across the country.  On Monday March 26^th, the number of hunger strikers will grow to 1000.

We ask for your solidarity in stopping the KorUS FTA and all Bush FTAs.

The March 25 massive demonstration is organized by the Korean Alliance against Korea-US FTA (KoA), a coalition of over 300 organizations representing millions of trade unionists, peasants, students, environmental and public health advocates.  March  25 is the day of international action to stop the KorUS FTA, all Bush FTAs, and the spread of corporate-led globalization. The U.S. is now negotiating free trade deals with several countries, including Peru, Colombia, Panama, South Korea, and Malaysia.

In solidarity allies in the United States and around the world will wage a 36 hour global hunger strike to oppose the KorUS FTA and the free trade regime that is destroying our livelihoods, our communities, our human rights and our environment.  The hunger strike will be timed with South Korea?셲 3 pm, March 25 (the start of the mass mobilization) through 3 am, March 27 (just after the end of first day of the 1000 person hunger strike.)  For the reference of those in the U.S., this is 2 am, March 25 through 2 pm March 26 Eastern Standard Time and 11 pm, March 24 through 11 am March 26 Pacific Daylight Time.

March is the critical month in the fight to stop all pending U.S. FTAs from conclusion. Unfettered free trade has been directly responsible for the massive loss of jobs and erosion of hard-won benefits and rights for workers, farmers, and laws protecting our public health and environment. Wholly undemocratic, the only voices heard behind closed negotiation doors are that of corporate interests.

Join us for this 36-hour global hunger strike! We will send Korea the solidarity list by Saturday, March 24 for KoA to read at the March 25 mass demonstration. To sign-on go to:  http://www.gopetition.com/online/11558.html.  For more information, call: 718.335.0419 or email: yul-san@nodutdol.org.

*Founded in April 2006, KAWAN is a national coalition of progressive U.S.-based Korean organizations endorsed by hundreds of immigrant, people of color, LGBT, farmers?? workers?? women?셲, national liberation, anti-war and anti-globalization groups. For each of the eight rounds of negotiations between the U.S. and Korea, we have waged protests and resistance with our Korean allies. We have held forums, held direct action and civil disobedience and engaged in lobbying and advocacy efforts.

Declaration of Opposition to the KOR-US FTA and

Pledge to Participate in a Solidarity Hunger Strike

                                          

We, the undersigned, express our opposition to the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which poses a serious threat to public interest in both South Korea and the United States. The Korea-U.S. FTA is based on a model of trade agreement that is designed to profit of transnational capital and big business at the expensive of workers, farmers and common people and has been negotiated through a secretive and undemocratic process. Such a trade agreement must not be implemented.

We are opposed to the secretive and undemocratic nature through which the Korea-U.S. FTA has been negotiated.

FTA talks have been held in remote places away from public view or in secrete outside of the official negotiations. The South Korean government has routinely withheld relevant information and documents from stakeholders, the National Assembly, and the general public. It has also closed off public debate through insufficient hearings and media censorship. Worse, it has severely suppressed anti-FTA sentiment, banning peaceful protests and arresting protest participants.

We are opposed to a trade agreement that will destroy the livelihood of South Korean farmers and harm the environment.

The Korea-U.S. FTA calls for unconditional opening of the South Korean agricultural market to cheap overproduced American-grown products. The consequent deterioration of Korean agriculture will have devastating social, cultural, and environmental effects: Statistics show that roughly half of South Korea?셲 farmers will be unable to maintain their farms and be forced to join the ranks of the urban poor. The resultant destruction of rural communities will mean the break-up of rural traditions that are the basis of Korean culture, and the deterioration of the rural environment. The Korea-U.S. FTA also threatens the environment by introducing mechanism through the lowering of environmental standards such as the Investor-State Claim Clause. 

We are opposed to a trade agreement that directly threatens vital public services such as health-care, energy provision and education. The Korea-U.S. FTA calls for higher pricing of pharmaceuticals- benefiting transnational pharmaceutical companies at the expense of access for common people. The FTA will also limit the Korean government?셲 ability to ensure equitable access to energy and water supply by fostering privatization in these sectors and diminish the validity of public education through the introduction of private U.S.-based testing services, which will increase the demand on students to seek private education programs

We are opposed to a trade agreement that threatens cultural diversity by allowing for harmful infringement on South Korea?셲 cultural industry.

Reduction of South Korea? 셲 screen quota, which protects the nation?셲 film industry, was made a prerequisite for beginning FTA negotiations. Further, the current Korea-U.S. FTA will require removal of similar protections for Korea?셲 broadcasting industry. These measures endanger the public function of the broadcasting industry and the uniqueness of South Korea?셲 audio-video language. The provisions of the Korea-U.S. FTA are inconsistent with the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity Cultural Expressions, which affirms the right of each member nation to formulate and implement regulations aimed at promoting domestic cultural expression.

We are opposed to a trade agreement that grants undue powers to investors at the expense of domestic development and public interest.

The unconditional investor-state claims clause included in the Korea-U.S. FTA affords greater privileges to foreign investors than those granted by domestic law, providing a mechanism through which investors??claims can place enormous monetary penalties on taxpayers and pressure the government to adopt lower environmental and labor standards to avoid future claims. The Korea-U.S. FTA also calls for a reduction in government procurement contracts in order to open these markets to foreign capital. In South Korea, procurement policy promotes the growth of thousands of small businesses in various regions, providing entrepreneurial opportunities to businesses that are conscious about environmental and labor issues. As such, they are vital to keeping public interest alive and maintaining community-government cooperation.

On March 25 at 3:00 PM (South Korea time), tens of thousands of farmers, workers, students and concerned persons will take to the streets throughout South Korea to protest the KorUS FTA.  The following day, 1000 South Koreans will engage in a hunger strike.  (Since March 19 over 100 have been fasting.) 

In order to demonstrate the sincerity of our opposition to the KorUS FTA and of our solidarity with the Korean people we pledge to conduct a United States-wide hunger strike to coincide with these activities.  Thus, we, the undersigned, pledge to fast from 2:00 AM, March 25 through 2:00 PM, March 26 (Eastern Standard Time).  Furthermore, we athorize Korean Americans Against War and Neoliberalism to send this statement of protest, with all signatures collected, to South Korean Consulates across the United States and the South Korea Embassy, the office of the United States Trade Representative and White House in Washington, DC.

We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with the Korean people. We call for abrogation of the Korea-U.S. FTA negotiations to date and cancellation of all future talks and legislative processes.

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