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KAFT AND KOREA-US FTA IN THE MEDIA

Korean Leaders Opposing FTA Freed!

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LISTEN ONLINE: Peoples' Forum rebroadcast

Participants' analyses and comments from the June 11 2007 Peoples' Forum On The Korea-US Free Trade Agreement have been recorded and posted here.

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What's wrong with the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement By the Korean Americans for Fair Trade

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New America Media: Korean Cab Driver Self Immolates to Protest Free Trade Agreement

On April 1, as trade negotiators from the United States and South Korea were finalizing a trade agreement, 54-year-old taxicab driver Heo Seowook poured 1.5 liters of gasoline on his body and set himself on fire outside the Hyatt Hotel in Seoul. His body engulfed in flames, he screamed, "Stop the Korea-U.S. FTA negotiations!" By Christine Ahn.

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San Diego Union-Tribune: Democracy loses in Korea trade pact

The United States and South Korea yesterday announced an agreement in principle to enter into America's second-largest trade accord, surpassed only by the North America Free Trade Agreement. Winners and losers abound, but one thing is certain - democracy is losing. By Thomas Kim.

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Alternet: Corporate-Backed Trade Deal Would Directly Hurt Poor Americans

The Korea-U.S. "free" trade deal is proceeding apace, and Big Pharma is pleased. But do state lawmakers, healthcare providers and low-income patients know what's being negotiated on their behalf? By Sharon Treat and Sean Flynn.

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WBAI Radio Interviews with...

Heo Young Koo, Vice President of Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), and Seo Joon-Seop, Director of Policy of Korean Alliance Against Korus FTA (KoA)

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Free Speech Radio News Coverage of the June 11th Peoples' Forum

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Press Release: The Impact of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA): Who Wins, Who Loses?

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 11 - The Bush administration is poised to sign the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), the second largest trade deal since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In the first public hearing since the text of the agreement was released on May 25, leading experts from South Korea and the United States will share analyses about how the KORUS FTA will impact job loss, health, human rights and the environment of both countries.

Full Statement Available Here

EVENT: Peoples' Forum On The Korea-US Free Trade Agreement

Monday, June 11 at the AFL-CIO, Gompers Room, 815 16th St, NW, Washington, DC
Join us for a packed one-day teach-in and lobby workshop sponsored by the Korean-Americans for Fair Trade (KAFT), Alliance for Responsible Trade (ART), AFL-CIO, and the 50 Years is Enough Network. Leading experts from South Korea and the U.S. will share analyses about how the KORUS FTA will impact job losses, health, environment and human rights, and what we can and must do to implement a shared vision of fair trade.

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RESPECT THE 2006 FAIR TRADE MANDATE -- NO TO BUSH FTAs

We are deeply disturbed by the secrecy and lack of democratic accountability in the trade negotiations process. Last Friday the Democratic leadership (Pelosi, Rangel and Baucus) -- in a move that labor and progressives were fearing -- struck a deal with the Bush administration that lobbyists for multinational corporations are declaring will pave the way for Congress to pass four bilateral trade agreements, including Korea, and grant reauthorization of Fast Track to President Bush...

Full Statement Available Here

KOREAN AMERICANS OPPOSE THE KOREA-US FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

SAN FRANCISCO---April 2--At the eleventh hour, the United States and South Korea signed the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (Korus FTA), the second largest free trade deal since NAFTA. President Bush and big business claim victory, but democracy has lost...

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Interview with Christine Ahn on KPFA

Article and Interview Available Here

Endorsements for US civil society declaration on the KOR-US FTA

We, the undersigned U.S. civil society organizations, express our deep concerns over the proposed U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). We believe that the current model agreement, which so far has provided enormous benefits for a disproportionate few, will not likely generate widely shared economic prosperity for the majority of persons in the U.S. and South Korea...

Full Statement Available Here

Free trade far too costly by Soya Jung Harris, International Examiner

The hardest lessons are often learned too late. Some would say that in terms of free trade, the writing is no longer on the wall; impending disaster is now a reality. Lost jobs, declining wages and working conditions, displacement of farmers, deepening class stratification and the erosion of indigenous cultures are all outcomes of failed trade policies in...

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U.S.-Korea Trade Negotiations Get Nowhere by Aaron Glantz, OneWorld.net

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 16 (OneWorld) - Trade unionists on both sides of the Pacific expressed relief Thursday after a seventh round of free trade negotiations between South Korea and the United States ended without an agreement...

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"A New Fast Track For Unfair Trade" by Christine Ahn

Trade representatives from the United States and South Korea are racing against the clock to sign the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement under the "fast track" deadline. With $72 billion dollars traded annually between the two countries, the KorUS FTA would become the second largest trade deal after the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). While such a trade deal would normally sail through the halls of the U.S. Congress and the Korean National Assembly, times have changed since the first free-trade regimes rolled into Washington, D.C., and Seoul...

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"Korea-US Trade Agreement Headed for Trouble" by Mark Winne

During a trip to South Korea this past autumn I had the opportunity to meet Choi Chan-Sick, a 66-year-old peasant farmer. I found him and his wife one day fastidiously raking a six-foot-wide swath of rice that lay drying along the road's breakdown lane. His face was deeply wrinkled and back permanently stooped from a lifetime bent in service to his two-hectare rice paddy. To start what I hoped would be a pleasant conversation, I asked him through my translator how the fall harvest was going. Figuring me correctly for an American, he hurled a volley of invective at me, the only words of which I could make out were "United States" and "FTA." My wincing translator later told me that he had deleted the expletives...

"Free Trade Is Over (if the people want it to be)" by Christine Ahn

The United States and South Korea are working around the clock to sign the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KorUS FTA), which would become the second largest trade deal after the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Wall Street corporations and South Korean chaebols are salivating at the opportunity to increase their portion of the 72 billion dollars in business the two countries trade annually...

"Postcard from Seoul" by Wol-san Liem

Since March 2006, the United States and South Korea have been straining to complete the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Both governments claim it will yield more jobs and cheaper goods, but South Koreans are highly suspicious. Half the South Korean population is against the FTA, especially workers and farmers who have seen trade agreements like NAFTA lead to job flight, decaying rural communities, and increased social polarization. But what really unites Koreans against the FTA is the undemocratic nature of the negotiations process and the threat to Korea's national sovereignty. As the FTA talks recently entered their sixth round, protests in the capital Seoul have been intense. Despite a government ban, thousands took to the streets to demonstrate for an entire week...