SEOUL - Apparently upset by the Washington's refusal to address its key demand
for easing anti-dumping rules, South Korea said on Friday that it would refuse
formal discussion of automobiles and other issues of US concern at the upcoming
free trade talks between the two countries.
The tough South Korean move clouded the prospects for a sixth round of free
trade talks scheduled to open in Seoul on Monday.
The talks, which began in June last year, have so far made few breakthroughs.
"Discussions on trade remedies, automobiles and medicine were halted during the
fifth round of talks. There has since been no advanced US position on the
issue, so we've decided not to hold these three committee meetings this time,"
South Korea's Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry said in a statement.
Those issues, however, are expected to be discussed informally between top
negotiators from both sides, the ministry said, adding that there also would be
no official discussion on quarantine disputes touched off by tough South Korean
rules on US beef imports.
Early this week, South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong met deputy US Trade
Representative Karan Bhatia and assistant US Trade Representative Wendy Cutler,
Washington's top negotiator in free trade talks with Seoul, a ministry official
said, asking not to be named.
Overall, 14 committees will be convened in Seoul to handle less disputed areas,
including some industrial and agricultural products, services, competition and
intellectual property rights, it said. A committee handling the rules of origin
will meet separately in Seoul on January 23-25, the ministry said.
The mood among South Korean delegates remains subdued after the US rejected
outright one of their key demands for eliminating or restricting the imposition
of US anti-dumping duties on imports from South Korea.
South Korean officials believe that the US has so far overused its anti-dumping
rules to block shipments of semiconductors and other high-tech Korean
industrial goods.
The Koreans have strongly indicated that they would not address such key US
interests as opening wider South Korea's lucrative automobile and medicine
sectors.
"We have a 50-50 chance," Lee Hye-min, deputy chief of South Korea's 200-member
delegation, said of this round of talks. "The prospects for success are not as
low as seen by some."
Time is running short for the talks that should be wrapped up by the end of
March at the latest. US delegates have until April 2 to submit a deal to
Congress for a vote for or against without amendments.
Under US President George W Bush's "fast-track" trade promotion authority,
which expires on July 1, a free trade bill requires a 90-day congressional
review before voting. Discussions of quarantine issues will also be suspended
pending resolution of "technical" disputes over US beef imports.
Lifting a three-year ban on US beef imports caused by the discovery of a case
of mad cow disease in the US, South Korea allowed shipments in September on
condition that no bones be included in them.
South Korea has since turned back three shipments of US beef totaling 22.3 tons
after some bone fragments were found in the meat. US officials protested that
South Korea employed excessively strict rules to block US imports. Scientists
say that mad cow disease can be transmitted to humans through bone marrow.
Also looming as a potential deal-breaker is South Korea's adamant refusal to
open its rice market. The US insists there should be no exception under the
proposed free trade agreement.
Rice, the staple for 48.5 million South Koreans, is the most sensitive of all
for the Seoul government. Farmers have frequently staged violent protests
against the negotiations.
Free trade negotiations with the US have drawn considerable protests in South
Korea. Farmers and activists claim that if a trade deal is signed, it would
destroy their livelihoods due to a flood of cheaper American goods.
Police have banned demonstrators from holding protests at the venue for the
talks, a luxury hotel in central Seoul, and several areas of the capital.
Starting on Monday, police will mobilize about 15,000 riot police to protect
the venue and prevent demonstrations throughout the week, the Seoul
Metropolitan Police Agency said in a statement on Friday.
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