Position on the Korea-U.S. FTA

  The Democratic Labor Party(DLP) believes the Korea-US FTA(KORUS FTA) will inevitably result in a deterioration of living standards for the people of Korea. The KORUS FTA will result in losses for the agriculture/manufacturing/services sector, and has given rise to concern that it could cause a total of 0.5-1million job losses in Korea. The Korean agricultural sector, composed of mostly small scale farmers, will especially be hard hit with irreparable damage, and many workers in the small and medium sized manufacturing and service firms will also have to bear the suffering of unemployment. We also expect US workers in the textile, clothing, footwear, plastic sectors, and possibly steel and other various sectors to experience job losses due to the KORUS FTA.

  The DLP is certain that the KORUS FTA will exacerbate the socio-economic polarization that is currently taking place in Korea. Polarization within the Korean economy between has already reached alarming levels, and income and consumption patterns for the rich and the poor continue to diverge toward opposite poles. The DLP believes that the KORUS FTA will result in the degeneration of the vitality of the enterprises producing commodities for the domestic market and small-and-medium sized enterprises(SMEs), and increase the gap between the wealthy and the poor. Polarization in the US will also be affected in a negative way by the KORUS FTA. 

  We anticipate that the KORUS FTA will have adverse affects on the access to high-quality public services for the people of Korea. Above all, if commercial medical enterprises and private health insurance are sanctioned, the public healthcare system in Korea will collapse. Intervention by US MNCs in the pricing policy for pharmaceutical medicine resulting in higher prices is another a cause for concern. Furthermore, the opening up of the education sector will threaten the system of universal public education, and the possibility exists of the right to access for services such as electricity, gas, and water being infringed if privatization results from the KORUS FTA.   

  We are concerned that the KORUS FTA would curtail the level of access people have to finance. Already we have seen a decrease in the opportunities to access financial resource for SMEs as the Korean financial market has been liberalized. If various financial institutions such as the National Postal Service, the Korea Development Bank, and various cooperatives such as the National Agriculture Cooperative Federation are incorporated into a system of total competition, financial access for the people can only deteriorate. 

  The DLP views the KORUS FTA as an agreement that would damage the diversity and originality of Korean culture. The US government has called for the reduction or abolition of the screen quota in Korea for several years, and is also keen on reducing/abolishing quotas in the broadcasting and media industry. This would result in eliminating the safety net that has maintained and nurtured the cultural originality of the country. 

  The DLP is concerned that the KORUS FTA would be a violation of the rule of democracy. The issues on the table for the negotiations are a violation of the legislative mandate of the Korean National Assembly. The agenda for the negotiations have expanded to include intellectual property rights, competition policy, labor, environment, and tax policy. Korea has fulfilled and complied with its international obligations on these issues and has executed the relevant laws according to democratically enacted legislation. We cannot but view potential changes brought upon domestic laws, not by domestic democratic processes, but by the KORUS FTA, as a serious threat to democracy. 

  The KORUS FTA also has implication for the national sovereignty of Korea. The failure to recognize the distinctiveness of Korean institutions, which were established within the context of Korean cultural, social, and political characteristics, is cause for alarm. The possibility of intervention by the US in Korean domestic policy being institutionalized through the FTA sub-committee, and working group is also a cause for serious concern. 

  We recall the socio-economic disorder that Mexico is still enduring after the finalization of NAFTA. Mexico was able to attract high levels of foreign investment as a result of NAFTA, but the average wage of workers has decreased. Many SMEs, as well as small-scale farmers, have been brought to ruin. We are opposed to a NAFTA model free trade agreement, at the initiative of capital, being applied to Korea. We are aware that such an FTA does not benefit workers, farmers, fishermen, and SMEs: the socially weak.

  The DLP calls for the KORUS FTA negotiations to come to a stop. The relevant parties should not overlook the fact that the majority of Koreans see the KORUS FTA as being a negative external shock to the Korean economy and are opposed to it, and that most civic organizations are also concerned about further liberalization and marketization. The DLP will continue, through all means at its disposal, to put forth its full effort to stop the conclusion of the KORUS FTA. 

Special Committee to Stop the Korea-U.S. FTA

Democratic Labor Party