Kucinich joins Korean visitors in demonstrating against FTA

[eridani]

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=060000&biid=2006060530848

In the first round to be attended by Kim Jong-hun, ambassador of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and U.S. government institutions such as the USTR and the Department of State, 22 fields, including agriculture, textiles and telecommunications will be discussed. The U.S. negotiation team consists of 60 people.

Choi Seok-young, an economic representative at the Korean embassy in the U.S. said in a press conference on June 2, “It seems that Korea will mainly focus on the agricultural field such as the rice market, and the U.S. will aggressively deal with the protection of industrial products, such as textiles.”

<snip>

All 50 of the protesters began to demonstrate in alliance with some 100 members of a Korean civic group in the U.S. and hundreds of members of ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) around the White House starting June 4.

<snip>

In a protest on that day, some congressmen of the Democratic Party, including Dennis Kucinich, also participated. They represented manufacturing unions in the U.S. who fear that American jobs will be lost because of FTAs.



http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200606/kt2006060815545611990.htm

Downtown traffic was temporarily jammed Wednesday as South Korean protesters opposing a trade agreement with the United States rallied the Buddhist way, bowing to the ground every three steps.

The marchers started off Market Square near the U.S. Capitol and proceeded nearly 10 blocks before the police ordered them to stop. Police officials said the march was taking too long and could no longer receive protection.

Standing in group of threes, more than 60 demonstrators were given the sidewalk and a traffic lane to march west from the Capitol. "Down with the FTA (free trade agreement)!" they chanted every time they bowed to the ground.

Flag-bearers and drummers followed at the end of the line.

Protesters passed out leaflets and pamphlets to bystanders as they went.

The protest followed a joint news conference with a group of U.S. Democrats who oppose the FTA as officials of the two countries began a third day of negotiations here.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), addressing a rally at the Cannon House building terrace, said he opposes the FTA to "adequately represent the interest of our constituents."

"This agreement will not benefit the peoples of either countries, will not benefit particularly workers and farmers but instead will only benefit large corporations," he said in a joint statement with Rep. Kang Ki-kab of South Korea.

"We will take various actions with NGOs, parliament and Congress," he said. "Both myself and Rep. Kang will seek action and joint statements from other elected officials of our respective countries (at the next found of FTA talks)."

[Kolesar]

1. Recommended reading: "myths of free trade" by Congressman Sherrod Brown

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565849280/102-2438113-9828166?v=glance&n=283155

...Our current free trade agenda, Brown insists, is an un-American departure from a history of tariffs and government intervention aimed at developing the nation’s economy and protecting workers and the environment from the excesses of the market. He contends that free trade doesn’t promote growth in either developed or developing countries, but simply shifts well-paying American jobs to Third World sweatshops. There, miserably underpaid workers, denied workplace safety regulations or the right to unionize, can’t buy the products they make, which creates imbalances of supply over demand and thus contributes to global economic stagnation. Rather than spreading American values around the globe, he argues, free trade buttresses the power of authoritarian regimes like China’s. Indeed, in Brown’s view, no one benefits from unregulated trade except corporations and rich investors, eager to deploy their assets wherever labor and the environment are most profitably exploited.