[Editorial] Korea-U.S. FTA Caught Japan and China Off Guard

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) reached between Korea and the U.S surprised Japan and China. They fear a possibility where Korea becomes a trade hub in Northeast Asia on the back of the trade pact. Japan, which has just emerged from a long recession, is worried that Korea might gain the upper hand in the North American auto and electronics market. In China, analysts said, “The FTA could raise Korea’s stature in the international market.”

The Japanese media acknowledged that Japan is backwater when it comes to FTAs and urged its government to actively pursue an FTA with the superpower. The Japanese government, however, is not in a position where it can openly claim the inevitability of an agricultural market opening. In the run-up to the House of Councilors election in July, FTA was a taboo term among Japanese politicians.

Against this backdrop, Japanese economists say they are alarmed by the Korea-U.S. FTA and talk about the necessity of an FTA. Professor Shujiro Urata of Waseda University expressed his concerns, saying, “If Korea gains momentum and starts FTA talks with the EU, Japan would lag behind even further in FTAs.”

Experts in Japan and China agreed to say that their governments should urgently seek an FTA with Korea. Japan`s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said, “I am more than willing to resume Japan-Korea FTA talks that stalled in 2004 at any time. In an academic seminar a Chinese scholar complained to a Korean participant, “Why is China at the back of Korea’s FTA partner list?”

While the two neighboring giants are jealous of the recently reached Korea-U.S FTA, anti-FTA activists in Korea are making outrageous claims, likening the trade deal to a loss of economic sovereignty.

The Democratic Labor party called the FTA a “second national disgrace,” and the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy called it a “trade coup.” The anti-FTA Pan-National Movement made a reckless remark toward the Korean FTA negotiating team, who pulled an all-nighter in the talks, by calling them “a bunch of bananas” betraying their own country. Their absurd remarks remind us of Heungseon Daewongun, a King by the end of Joseon Period who closed off Korea to the outside world.

We are living in an FTA era now where one FTA was just added and thousands more will come. In this world what Korea should do is to get as much as it can out of an FTA with the U.S. in order to become a trading powerhouse. This is the way to go for Korea, which is sandwiched between Japan and China.