YONHAP NEWS

(2nd LD) U.S. to work closely with Korea on FTA ratification: State Dept.

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- The Barack Obama administration will work closely with South Korea for congressional approval of a pending free trade deal that could help revive the U.S. economy, struggling through the worst recession in decades, a senior U.S. official said Thursday.

   "Continued integration of the economies of this region will create new business opportunities, benefiting workers, consumers, and businesses and creating jobs back here in the United States," Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told a hearing of the Senate foreign relations subcommittee.

   "Despite strong export growth to the Asia-Pacific, the United States' share of the total trade in the region has declined by three percent in the past five years," Campbell said. "To reverse this trend, we will continue to work with the Congress, stakeholders, and the Republic of Korea to work through the outstanding issues of concern so we can move forward on our bilateral free trade agreement."

   Campbell did not specify when the administration will present the Korea FTA to Congress for ratification.

   Other U.S. officials have said they want to address U.S. concerns about the imbalance in auto trade and restricted shipments of beef in side agreements without revising the text of the deal, signed in 2007.

   South Korea is pressing Obama to submit the deal by this summer, fearing that failure to do so would push ratification to at least 2011, after the mid-term elections in November.

   The victory of Republican Scott Brown in the Massachusetts special election Tuesday, breaking the Democrats' filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate, jeopardizes Obama's health care reform bill and makes it more difficult for Obama to advance the Korea FTA and other less pressing issues, analysts said.

   "President Obama and the Democratic Party should now feel a sense of crisis that they may face another major defeat in the upcoming mid-term elections, so they may put forth another controversial and hot issue such as immigration reform to rally support from liberals and liberal independents," said Jay Kim, a former Republican congressman from Diamond City, California. "That means the Korea FTA and other less urgent issues will still be left over at least until after the elections."

   At the subcommittee hearing, Campbell emphasized the importance of enhancing trade and other economic ties with South Korea and other Asian countries.

   "It is worth highlighting that four Asian economies -- China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan -- are now among our top-12 trading partners," he said. "Today, the 21 APEC economies purchase almost 60 percent of U.S. goods. We need to recognize Asia's importance to the global economy. Close U.S.-Asian economic cooperation is vital to the well-being of the U.S. and international economic order."

   He also called for more balanced trade with Asia, a euphemism for more exports to address burgeoning U.S. trade deficits.

   "We simply cannot return to the same cycles of boom and bust that led us into a global recession," he said. "The United States and Asia need to emphasize balanced growth and trade."

   Turning to North Korea, Campbell said the U.S. will continue to cooperate with South Korea to draw North Korea back to the six-party denuclearization talks, stalled over U.N. sanctions for Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests.

   "We did not reach agreement on when and how North Korea will return to six-party talks, a matter that we will continue to discuss with Asian partners early in 2010," he said. "Japan and the Republic of Korea have been key partners in our joint efforts to maintain peace and stability in Northeast Asia and, in particular, to denuclearize North Korea through the six-party process."

   Campbell was referring to the visit to Pyongyang by Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North Korea policy, last month -- the administration's first high-level official contact with the North. The visit, however, failed to lure the North back to the six-nation forum.

   Since then, as preconditions for to returning to the table, North Korea has called for the removal of sanctions and a peace treaty to replace the fragile armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

   The U.S. has said it will discuss lifting sanctions and crafting a peace treaty only after the North returns to the talks, which have been on and off since their inception in 2003. Some U.S. officials have said they are ready to have another face-to-face meeting to facilitate the reopening of the negotiations.

   Campbell said Tuesday that he is embarking on a tour of Seoul and Tokyo on Feb. 1 or 2 to meet with officials on the six-party talks and other issues of mutual and multilateral concern.

   South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Wi Sung-lac, meanwhile, is here to meet with Bosworth, Campbell and other officials.

   Emerging from a meeting with Bosworth at the State Department, Wi told reporters, "We've discussed the situation where we are now and ways to cope with developments in the future. We've agreed that we will continue to work closely to persuade North Korea back to the six-party talks."

   Campbell also touched on the decades-old alliance with South Korea.

   "We are also working vigorously with our other critical ally in Northeast Asia, the Republic of Korea, to modernize our defense alliance and to achieve a partnership that is truly global and comprehensive in nature," he said, apparently referring to preparations for South Korea to retake full command of its troops in 2012 and scenarios under which U.S. troops in South Korea might deploy to conflict regions abroad.

   "Building off the Joint Vision Statement between Presidents Obama and Lee Myung-bak, we are committed to creating a more dynamic relationship that builds on our shared values and strategic interests," he said. "We look forward to the Republic of Korea's growing international leadership role as it hosts the 2010 G-20 Leaders Meeting."

   hdh@yna.co.kr
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