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Viewing cable 06SEOUL1391, EMBASSY FTA OUTREACH EFFORTS AIM TO RALLY KOREAN

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06SEOUL1391 2006-04-26 04:32 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Seoul
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUL #1391/01 1160432
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 260432Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7540
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC 1418
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
UNCLAS SEOUL 001391 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/K AND EB/TPP 
COMMERCE FOR 4431/MAC/OPB/EAP/DUTTON 
PASS USTR FOR CUTLER, AUGEROT AND KI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD PGOV KS
SUBJECT: EMBASSY FTA OUTREACH EFFORTS AIM TO RALLY KOREAN 
SUPPORTERS OF AGREEMENT 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1. (SBU) The Ambassador and other Embassy officials have 
stepped up outreach efforts aimed at galvanizing Korea's 
"silent majority" to be more vocal in their support of the 
U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA).  The Ambassador 
delivered well-received speeches to politicians from both 
the ruling and opposition parties, urging them to keep their 
focus on the big-picture economic gains that an FTA would 
bring to both countries.  The audiences at both events 
 
signaled broad bipartisan support for the KORUS FTA.  At a 
lunch hosted by the Ambassador, Korea International Trade 
Association (KITA) President Lee Hee-beom reported that KITA 
is embarking on a strategic public affairs plan to energize 
Korean business community support for the FTA while engaging 
other opinion-makers in the political arena. 
 
2. (SBU) Based on Post's interactions with the Korean 
public, we are confident that, despite the recent spate of 
anti-FTA media coverage provoked by the allegations of 
former Blue House economic advisor Jung Tae-in, there is 
broad political, expert and public support for the FTA in 
Korea.  This has been reflected in editorials by the 
mainstream press and television network news.  End Summary. 
 
LUNCH WITH KITA 
--------------- 
 
3. (SBU) The Ambassador hosted a lunch on April 12 for new 
KITA President Lee Hee-beom, the former Minister for 
Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE).  The lunch included 
senior figures from the Korean business community, as well 
as leaders from the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM). 
KITA, one of Korea's "Big 5" business organizations, 
represents approximately 36,000 firms that are engaged in 
international trade, ranging in size from Korea's large 
"chaebol" conglomerates to small and medium-sized 
enterprises (SME's). 
 
4. (SBU) Lee and the Korean business representatives present 
at the lunch assured the Ambassador that the Korean business 
community strongly supports the FTA.  But they admitted that 
Korean business leaders have been slow in broadcasting that 
support in the political and public spheres.  Lee informed 
the Ambassador that KITA, in cooperation with the other "Big 
5" business groups, is set to embark on a more active and 
vocal campaign to drum up support for the FTA.  Taking a 
methodical approach, Lee said that KITA's first move had 
been to organize a large seminar and related public events 
marking the two-year anniversary of the entry into force of 
the Korea-Chile FTA on April 1, 2004.  Lee commented that 
any public campaign needed to be grounded in empirical 
evidence showing the positive economic effects of FTA's, 
which is why KITA chose to use the Korea-Chile anniversary 
as the kick-off.  Data shows that the Korea-Chile agreement 
led to annual increases for Korean exports to Chile of over 
50 percent. 
 
5. (SBU) Other Korean business representatives noted that a 
major factor in Korean business support for the KORUS FTA is 
a hope that such an agreement would help ameliorate ongoing 
trade diversion in the U.S. import market away from Korean 
goods towards Chinese products.  They also commented that an 
FTA could be used to generate more U.S.-Korea business 
cooperation aimed at defending against "aggressive" Chinese 
marketing practices. 
 
AMBASSADOR SPEAKS TO LAWMAKERS 
------------------------------ 
 
6. (SBU) The Ambassador delivered separate FTA-themed 
speeches to two groups of politicians on April 13, one to 
first-term National Assembly members from the Grand National 
Party (GNP) -- the primary opposition party -- and one to up- 
and-coming politicians from the ruling Uri Party, whom the 
party hopes to field in upcoming elections.  The speeches 
focused on a political message, encouraging the new and 
future lawmakers to focus on the broad economic benefits 
that an FTA would bring to both nations, and to avoid 
descending into emotion-based, nationalistic rhetoric. 
 
7. (SBU) The audiences from both parties expressed overall 
support for the KORUS FTA.  The GNP audience focused their 
questions on agriculture.  In general, they wanted to know 
how comprehensive the agreement would be and the extent to 
 
 
which the United States would seek to open Korean markets. 
The lawmakers appeared to agree that free trade was in the 
long-term best interest of the ROK and seemed committed to 
making the case to their constituents. 
 
 
8. (SBU) Though the Uri Party generally tends to be more 
sympathetic to arguments voicing skepticism of the FTA, the 
Ambassador's presentation was also well received by the 
participants of the Uri Foundation's Political Academy 
class.  The Uri Foundation serves as the ruling party's 
policy incubator and the Political Academy is a mentoring 
vehicle to identify and foster future party leaders.  The 
Ambassador spent over one hour answering questions.  The 
participants seemed to use the session for genuine dialogue 
and as an opportunity to gather facts and clarify 
misinformation.  Save for one accusation that FTA's are 
created by powerful nations for their own benefit, there was 
little sign of skepticism about the merits of the KORUS FTA. 
 
9. (SBU) On April 14, the Ambassador called for expeditious 
progress in free-trade negotiations in a lecture to 40 MBA 
students at Sungkyunkwan University.  The Ambassador said 
that it is vital that a framework for the FTA is completed 
by March 2007, before Trade Promotion Authority expires.  He 
also enumerated several positive effects of the FTA for both 
countries.  Asked whether the U.S. was pressuring Korea to a 
quick and lopsided agreement, the Ambassador urged the 
students to have faith in Korean officials, who are 
experienced, savvy negotiators.  Other Embassy officials 
have participated in Mission Speaker Programs around the 
country similar to the Sungkyunkwan event, delivering 
presentations on the FTA to university professors and 
students as well as local business groups. 
 
FTA SUPPORTERS STRIKE BACK 
-------------------------- 
 
10. (SBU) Stung by the recent anti-FTA and anti-American 
broadside delivered by former Blue House Economic Advisor 
Jung Tae-in -- who declared in interviews with local 
"progressive" media that an FTA would spell economic 
disaster for Korea and that President Roh had been 
manipulated by nefarious "pro-U.S." factions in the 
bureaucracy -- Korean supporters of the FTA have started to 
become more vocal. 
 
11. (SBU) Following Jung's comments, the mainstream media 
reacted with a string of pro-FTA editorials, the first such 
coverage seen since the February 2 launch of FTA talks 
(which generated a spate of positive press).  The nation's 
three most widely-read dailies (Chosun Ilbo, Dong-A Ilbo, 
and JoongAng Ilbo) all carried pro-FTA editorials on April 
12, with the Dong-A commenting that "a Korea-U.S. FTA will 
surely benefit Korea."  The JoongAng wrote, "Korea has been 
one of the major beneficiaries of a multilateral trade 
system under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and 
the World Trade Organization.  We also achieved economic 
development by means of overseas trade.  We can't lock the 
door to the outer world and say, 'We will do it our own 
way.'  Calling the agreement an act of treason, as some 
progressive groups have done, is just a childish idea 
intended to stir up blind nationalism.  What kind of country 
do they want?"  In addition, the main national network news 
channel, KBS News, ran a five-part special report on the FTA 
that was generally positive in tone. 
 
12. (SBU) In addition to the business-based pro-FTA movement 
organized by KITA in cooperation with other business groups, 
several prominent professors launched a pro-FTA campaign on 
April 16, including prominent church minister Seo Kyung-suk 
and Chung In-kyo, a former think tank researcher who is now 
a professor at Inha University.  They plan to expand their 
campaign to counter the anti-FTA coalition that was formally 
launched the previous day.  The anti-FTA coalition consists 
of 270 separate groups and includes farm and labor 
organizations as well others such as the Lawyers for 
Democracy ("Minbyun"), the Korean Federation of 
Environmental Movements (KFEM) and Doctors for Humanity, who 
seem to oppose the agreement more for ideological than 
economic reasons.  Before breaking ranks over the FTA, many 
of these civic groups had enjoyed close ties with the Roh 
Administration. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
13. (SBU) Based on our direct interactions with the Korean 
public, we do not believe -- despite the amount of ink being 
spilled in the media -- that the anti-FTA message has spread 
beyond groups that were destined in any case to 
ideologically oppose any deepening of the U.S.-Korea 
relationship.  As Korea's Chief Negotiator for the KORUS 
FTA, Ambassador Kim Jong-hoon, explained in remarks at the 
U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington on April 17, 
opponents of the FTA vent their anger on the street, but the 
supporters engage with each other and the government in less 
visible -- but probably more politically effective -- 
meetings, seminars, and conferences.  It was inevitable that 
this FTA would become a lightning rod for anti-U.S. 
sentiment and be politicized here by certain groups.  As 
such, we should not react too sensitively to those voices 
being raised now.  Still, Post recommends that INR carry out 
FTA-focused polling to assess the Korean public's attitude 
toward the KORUS FTA, and allow us to accurately identify 
ongoing trends. 
 
VERSHBOW