SKorea, US resume free trade talks amid protests
07.09.2006, 11:01 PM
- SEOUL (XFN-ASIA) –
The United States and South Korea opened fresh negotiations aimed at forging a free trade pact, with labor groups opposed to the deal pledging daily protests.
Negotiators began the second round of talks, which were to continue through Friday, at a Seoul hotel heavily guarded by thousands of riot police.
Activists have pledged major demonstrations later outside the hotel and in other downtown areas, saying that free trade would hurt their livelihoods.
The world’s largest and Asia’s fourth largest economies have set a goal of
striking a free trade agreement (FTA) in March.
But South Korean farmers, unions and film industry workers are opposed to any market-opening measures that will include cheaper imports of US products.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which has some 800,000 members, called a one-day strike Wednesday to protest the FTA.
Supporters counter that an FTA would boost growth, create more jobs and secure stronger ties with the United States.
Bilateral trade reached 72 bln usd last year, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry.