| Publication |
2008.
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| Summary/Abstract |
On July 30, 2007, trade officials of the United States and South Korea signed the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). This paper will review the influences of the KORUS FTA on intra-Korean relations, while considering negative and positive perspectives on the FTA in the process of analysis. This paper has been organized into two parts. The first part is focused on the characteristics of intra-Korean relations. The second part is focused on the influence of the KORUS FTA on intra-Korean relations.
One important issue for Korea and a politically sensitive issue for the U.S. was the status of goods from the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) in North Korea. The KIC, part of South Korea's engagement strategy with North Korea hosts South Korean companies that use North Korean labor. While rejecting Korea's request that goods from the KIC enter the U.S. duty free, both sides agreed to create a "Committee on Outward Processing Zones (OPZs)" on the Korean Peninsula that would consider such ventures at a later date. This means that the United States wants to have control, to slow down the speed of intra-Korean economic cooperation.
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