In case you didn't know (who can follow them all?), the US is currently negotiating a bi-lateral Free Trade Agreement with Korea. But this one isn't happening quietly behind closed doors - at least in Korea!  The last negotiation meeting there was greeted with mass protests (up to 50,000 protestors at one demonstration), and the final day of negotiations was cancelled with the talks ending in a stalemate.

With the 3rd round of negotiations coming to Seattle, it gives us a chance to review what's wrong with this proposed FTA. Although no text for the proposed FTA is public yet, indications are that the US is pushing the standard NAFTA-type trade model. This means:

• no inclusion of enforceable labor or environmental standards (IE reinforcing the global race-to-the-bottom for labor treatment and environmental protection that are part of the NAFTA model)
• coercive monopoly protections for the US pharmaceutical industry (IE threats to public health initiatives and affordable medicine efforts)
• expansive investor rights, including investor suit provisions
• no acknowledgment of or adjustment for the impacts of the agreement on small producers, family farmers, or public sector services

For Korean society in particular, this proposed FTA threatens:

• Family farmers, particularly rice farmers - a key and treasured part of Korean culture
• Korean workers, likely resulting in reduced protections for workers, reductions in benefits, etc.
• Korean cultural autonomy, since among other things the proposed FTA forces Korea to drop an emphasis on Korean-language cinema
• Korean efforts towards environmental protection - for example, the proposed FTA would require elimination of an innovative environmental standard that encourages consumers to buy cars with smaller engines
• Korean public health: the proposed FTA would abolish the right to limit drug costs and would weaken safety test standards

Korea is the 7th largest trading partner of the US, so the Korean FTA would be the biggest deal since NAFTA, with major impacts on the citizens of both the US and Korea.

• KAWAN - Korean Americans Against War and Neoliberalism
   
• Korea Policy Institute - Analyzing issues related to the Korea US FTA and beyond