The Seoul Stumbling Blocks on Trade

Anthony B. Kim / July 01, 2010

After more than a year of stalling, President Obama seems finally to have recognized the political imperative of pushing ahead with the South Korean free-trade deal; America’s biggest trade pact since NAFTA. “It is the right thing to do for our country. It is the right thing to do for Korea,” the president said. The statement came with the president’s first ever specific time table for implementing the trade deal. This is all good news. But does it come too late?

From Seoul’s point of view, the pact is signed and sealed. Mr. Lee has already stood up to trade unions and opposition parties to get his parliament to pass the deal. Especially after taking a beating in local elections earlier this month, he cannot afford to be seen making further concessions to the U.S. (more…)