EMBASSY FTA OUTREACH EFFORTS AIM TO RALLY KOREAN

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
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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
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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