Wen Jiabao Hopes for Korea-China FTA

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on April 5 that Korea and China have started joint research among industry, government, and academic sectors in order to agree on an FTA and that China hopes to reach a Korea-China FTA deal early. He added, “There is no territorial dispute between Korea and China. I hope that research on ethnic borders does not affect relations between our two countries based on principles that science and politics should be differentiated and history and reality should be distinguished.

He said the above at a joint interview in Zhongnanhai, Beijing with Korean correspondents staying in Beijing at a press conference right before his official visit to Korea on April 10.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government announced that if Korea does not open its door to beef imports from the U.S., it would not sign the FTA with Korea.

U.S. spokesman Sean Spicer said at a briefing on April 4 (local time), “Korea and the U.S. plan to sign the FTA in June. However, we may not sign if a clear route for beef is not prepared.”

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Karan Bhatia said on that day, “The mad cow disease issue is being discussed outside the FTA framework, but President Roh suggested that he will respect the international standard. We clarified to Korea that if the beef market is not completely reopened, the U.S. Congress would not ratify the agreement.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance and Economy Minister Kwon Oh-kyu said regarding the Korea-U.S. FTA at a regular briefing on April 5, “We may be able to publish the whole agreement in Korean and English within next month.” It is presumed that the agreement would be 150 pages, excluding attachments.

He said regarding the import process of U.S. beef, “Until now, data has piled up and many discussions have been held. Therefore, if the World Organization for Animal Health releases guidelines, processes related to the import quarantine can be speedily presented.”