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What do you think about our country? These days, Korea is in utter confusion. The members of the National Assembly do irrationality, and they do not mind their nation. I think they do not want to work hard for the public good. They just care their own profit. Today, the members of the National Assembly have a one big problem. This problem anticipates what is to do come to Korea. The problem is Free Trade Agreement(FTA). This problem influences international trade, so the members make every possible effort to work out.
Free Trade Agreement is a type of regional economy that the member nation��s tariff and limit of trade control soften or repeal and liberalization trade as result of efficiency division of resource and extension of market, so common of economically profit enjoy about national agreement. Korea promotes with Chile to conclude FTA, but there are many difficulties in our country, the farmers. In 1998, Korea projected with Chile to FTA. Since December 1999, Chile and Korea meet for FTA and finally, in 2002, Korea made a compromise agreement with Chile in prior approval. And now Korea about concluding the FTA with Chile which Korea open economy completely. But the farmers and some of people disagree to concluding FTA. So the agreement is not concluded yet.
Throughout much of the Chile-Korea free trade negotiations, there were substantial difficulties as Korean farmers opposed the deal based on their calculation of short-term benefits. Accordingly, there is no doubt that failure of the Chile-Korea free trade agreement would have made some sectors in Korea very happy.
So, when the interests of a few specific groups and of the nation as a whole clash, I believe a government should be guided by political will and wisdom so that it can choose the best option that will bring long-term advantages to the country.
Both the Korean and Chilean governments have been wise and brave enough to make the right choice in pursuing the trade agreement, though it may be that some short-term political benefits were sacrificed as a price.
As for specific benefits to each party, I do think that Korea has an edge compared to Chile. Under the agreement, Korea will be able to better compete in many sectors in Chile as most of its key products will enter the country tariff-free. Particularly profitable industries for Korea will be automobiles, telecommunication devices and electronics, where Korean goods already own sizeable market shares.
In addition, FTA with Chile will make it easier for Korea to reach other important Latin American markets.
In Chile��s case, we provide Korea mainly with raw materials and products for industrial use, which have much less added value than the manufactured goods that Korea exports to Chile. Thus, real gains for Chile are relative, and the benefits will depend on several factors, such as Chile��s capacity for marketing its products in Korea and also on changes in the consumption patterns of the Korean consumers (for such things as wine and salmon, for example). Both of these usually happen at a slower pace.
But generally speaking, I believe the best outcome of FTA negotiations is where trade barriers are removed completely so that the consumers in all the markets involved can benefit from greater choice of products. This is not quite the case in the Chile-Korea FTA, as tariffs for some items will not be reduced for several years and more sensitive items were excluded entirely.
But I stressed that Korea should work for a successful FTA, keeping in mind more long-term projections. For one, such trade relationships are necessary for markets like Korea, which has an enormous potential to become a main player not only in the region but also in the world. And forming trade blocs is a prominent global trend today.
Finally I would like to point out that though the public only sees the results of the agreement, the government officials involved in the negotiations put much effort and energy into concluding the agreement. Many would not want to experience the kind of stress that the negotiators were sure to have felt during the past three years of talks for the Chile-Korea FTA.
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