[CTC] Report: South Korean trade minister asks for authority to kill KORUS if talks falter

[Arthur Stamoulis]

INSIDE US TRADE
 
Report: South Korean trade minister asks for authority to kill KORUS if talks falter

November 02, 2017 
South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong wants the authority to terminate the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement if talks with the U.S. do not go well, according to a report out of Seoul.

Yonhap reports <http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2017/11/02/0200000000AEN20171102007700315.html> that Kim also asked the president to “sharply beef up his team” as it prepares for more intense discussions with the U.S., which has asked to amend the deal after President Trump railed against it and the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea.

More from the report:

“He made those requests recently and the presidential office and political circles, including the ruling party, are positively mulling them over,” a source close to the matter told Yonhap News Agency on the condition of anonymity.

Kim, who leads the Korean side in the talks, has asked for augmentation of the negotiating team with around 80 diplomats with experience on trade issues from the foreign ministry, he said.

Currently Kim's team has around 40 officials versed in trade negotiations, far short of the 200 staffers who were involved in the negotiation of the trade pact.

He also asked for authority to terminate the FTA with the U.S. if the renegotiation process does not guarantee protection of South Korea's key interests, saying that such a mandate could help draw the best outcome from the talks.

Yonhap notes that it “still remains to be seen whether the trade minister's demand will be accepted as transferring as many as 80 government officials will require time and complex procedures.”

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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