US Calls for Labor Market Improvement in Korea

At a Korea-U.S business meeting held in Washington D.C. in the U.S. from Sep. 22 to 23, the U.S. delegates said that the biggest stumbling block in its investment in Korea is the rigid labor market, demanding for improvement.

According to the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the co-host of the talks, U.S. business leaders are greatly interested in investing their money in Korea but demanded to discuss the inflexible labor market in which law and principle are not followed.

As a result, the two sides are expected to discuss issues on the Korean labor market on the second day, along with bilateral investment issues, an FKI official said.

U.S. participants of the bilateral business council include Maurice R. Greenberg, chairman of American International Group Inc., Thomas Usher, the Chairman and CEO of United States Steel Corporation, and other senior officials of the Bush administration.

Regarding controversy over the troop dispatch demanded by the U.S., the American ambassador to Korea, Thomas Hubbard, said that despite some changes in the two countries` relations, they are moving towards a `constructive` direction. “The U.S. has been increasing the number of windows for Visa issuance and there should be good news in the future,” he added.

“There are countries that can do globalization through free trades and countries that won`t do globalization, but Korea is one of the countries that can do it,” said Deputy United States Trade Representative Josette Shiner to a question related to the failure of the WTO`s Cancun meeting. “I expect Korea`s active cooperation with the U.S,” he added.

Jong sik Kong kong@donga.com