Posted on 11/10/2014 1:37:27 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
S. Korea-China FTA still faces hurdles before implementation
2014/11/10 11:56
By Byun Duk-kun
SEJONG, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- A long and what could be a very difficult process still awaits the free trade agreement (FTA) between South Korea and China before it can be implemented, despite a joint declaration of a deal by their leaders earlier Monday, government officials said.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, declared a "de facto" conclusion of FTA negotiations at their summit in Beijing.
Officials here, however, say it could take months before the FTA can actually go into effect.
Before the start of the final and 14th round of FTA negotiations in the lead-up to Monday's summit, South Korean officials said there remained five major issues, which included South Korea's market liberalization for agricultural and fishery imports from China and China's early opening of its market to South Korean industrial products.
"Most of the key remaining issues have been resolved, but there remain a few technical issues that need to be addressed during the process of legal scrubbing," an official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy told Yonhap News Agency.
The ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the legal scrubbing, or legal review, alone may take months. Only after the technical issues are resolved in the process can the FTA be initialed.
"We will work to initial the agreement before the year's end," the official said.
Once initialed, the agreement, currently written out only in English, has to be translated into Korean and Chinese, which can again take up to three months.
Following a fresh review of the agreement in their own languages, the countries will send the FTA to their respective legislatures for ratification before it can be implemented.
Public opposition, especially from farmers in South Korea and Chinese manufacturers, may further delay implementation of the free trade pact between the world's second-largest and Asia's fourth-largest economies.
Details of the Korea-China FTA have not yet been publicized, but Beijing had strongly demanded a wider access of its agricultural and fishery products to the South Korean market, which could easily incite a public uproar here.
The South Korean government was hit hard by months of violent protests after signing its FTA with the United States in June 2007, as the public charged that the trade pact gave unnecessarily wide market access to U.S. agricultural goods, including beef.
The South Korean and Chinese leaders confirmed Monday that rice, the most sensitive item in South Korea, will be completely excluded from the Korea-China FTA.
Still, many believe it's inevitable that South Korea's agriculture industry will be harmed.
"The damage from the Korea-China FTA will not be too great for now, but after 10 or 15 years, it will likely reach a very serious level," an official from the state-run Korea Livestock Economic Institute said.
P!
Chinese President Xi Jinping signed an agreement Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of this Summit... that will open a second route for supplying Russian natural gas to China, a 30 year deal......not to mention the rail deal they are in joint partnership on...
additionally...U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said Sunday that Washington will pursue its own plans for a 12-nation “Trans-Pacific Partnership” that will ‘exclude China’.
This being done just before Mondays meeting is interesting timing and will play into the discussions ahead....I suspect some fur will fly...’politely’....and I wonder what Obama’s doing going off to Burma right after this meeting....(He’s leaving a trail)
This also plays into thee meetings....Russia intends to deliver oil thru N.Korea to S.Korea...
interesting cooperation move.
Tiger, Caww’s mention (Caww’s above link) has China written all over the agreement.
http://www.ibtimes.com/russia-revamp-north-koreas-rail-system-eyes-mineral-resources-1716262
Russia To Revamp North Korea's Rail System, Eyes Mineral Resources
By Michelle FlorCruz October 30 2014 2:07 PM
Russia and North Korea are considering a deal that would allow Russia access to the pariah nation’s mineral resources. Moscow reported that in exchange for access to the North’s mineral-rich lands, Russia would invest $25 billion into revamping the country’s dated railway network.
According to Russia’s state-run Rossiskaya Gazeta, which quoted Russia’s minister for development of Far Eastern Russia, Alexander Galushka, the project would take on the task of updating roughly 3,000 km, or about 1,875 miles, of the North’s railroads over the span of 20 years.
“It is a commercial project that is mutually advantageous,” Galushka told the newspaper. The railways being updated would also include those that provide access to the North’s mineral deposits and other natural resources.
/snip
Obama ignoring Putin
Thanks Tiger...I see it’s up on it’s own thread...good!
They all know N.Korea can flip on a dime and unreliable...however both China and Russia can and do with hold food they use to feed their military so Kim will likely play along for a time...
Kim has to begin to co-operate with Russia and China as the two are becoming tight in their trade and on the World Stage....
Both China and Russia want world control...and both see the US as preventing that. They have a window to work in til Obama is gone as to them he has no influence...that will not be the case after he’s gone. So they will be working fast in these next two years and aren’t about to let Kim stand in the way.
It’s important I believe, to watch China and Russia’s moves and their agreements, as well how those affect the dynamics on the world stage, which they will and do now.
Several years ago I mentioned keeping an eye on Russia/China relations because this was coming for some time. As we know Obama’s move on Ukraine simply moved it forward and neither China nor Russia are dragging their feet now.
Obama’s trip after this summit...to Burma...is also significant....it’s a poke in the eye of China.
This photo of the Asian Summit makes me think the guys are doing business while Obama is telling the First Lady of China how to hang her curtains! ...lol....
I have a dumb question ... What is the significance of the purple guru jackets? Does it signify something other than a leadership position at the summit?
I am not sure, either.
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