http://freekorea.us/2007/07/05/the-fta-and-fortress-korea/ Tue, 22 May 2012 21:47:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://freekorea.us/2007/07/05/the-fta-and-fortress-korea/comment-page-1/#comment-51796 OneFreeKorea » WSJ: ROK-U.S. FTA to Die a Quiet Death Sat, 18 Aug 2007 15:31:37 +0000 http://freekorea.us/2007/07/05/the-fta-and-fortress-korea/#comment-51796 [...] I assume that like drunken Irish wakes, blogs are places where one’s true feelings about the deceased can be spoken.  Mine are that although this is a lost opportunity in many ways, I’m still glad this particular FTA deal failed.  First, remember that this deal could have passed, even in this Congress, had it been more even-handed and had “outward processing zones” (read: Kaesong) not been sitting there in Annex 22-C screaming “slave labor!“  I should say that well-informed friends tell me that this would never happen, and that Annex 22-C was just token language we agreed to to shut the South Koreans up.  I answer them by saying that none of us thought we’d ever launder $25 million in Kim Jong Il’s drug and counterfeiting money for him this time last year.  I know what the law says about importing slave-made goods, but I’ve lost my trust in this administration (or future ones) not to exempt North Korea from every law of God or man.  Second, after Roh’s miserable stewardship of these negotiations — and, for that matter, the entire U.S.-ROK relationship — this is not a deal he deserved to bring home.  Like Rudy Guiliani, I don’t believe that anti-Americanism should be cost-free, and that when self-described allies encourage or fail to respond to it, we shouldn’t reward them, treat them like allies, or help them argue to their voters that theirs is the most profitable way of dealing with America.  [...] [...] I assume that like drunken Irish wakes, blogs are places where one’s true feelings about the deceased can be spoken.  Mine are that although this is a lost opportunity in many ways, I’m still glad this particular FTA deal failed.  First, remember that this deal could have passed, even in this Congress, had it been more even-handed and had “outward processing zones” (read: Kaesong) not been sitting there in Annex 22-C screaming “slave labor!“  I should say that well-informed friends tell me that this would never happen, and that Annex 22-C was just token language we agreed to to shut the South Koreans up.  I answer them by saying that none of us thought we’d ever launder $25 million in Kim Jong Il’s drug and counterfeiting money for him this time last year.  I know what the law says about importing slave-made goods, but I’ve lost my trust in this administration (or future ones) not to exempt North Korea from every law of God or man.  Second, after Roh’s miserable stewardship of these negotiations — and, for that matter, the entire U.S.-ROK relationship — this is not a deal he deserved to bring home.  Like Rudy Guiliani, I don’t believe that anti-Americanism should be cost-free, and that when self-described allies encourage or fail to respond to it, we shouldn’t reward them, treat them like allies, or help them argue to their voters that theirs is the most profitable way of dealing with America.  [...]

]]> http://freekorea.us/2007/07/05/the-fta-and-fortress-korea/comment-page-1/#comment-48884 North Korea Blog » The FTA and ?Fortress Korea? Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:55:35 +0000 http://freekorea.us/2007/07/05/the-fta-and-fortress-korea/#comment-48884 [...] Read more of this story… [...] [...] Read more of this story… [...]

]]> http://freekorea.us/2007/07/05/the-fta-and-fortress-korea/comment-page-1/#comment-48869 The Marmot’s Hole » Korea Economy ‘One Big Trade Barrier’ Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:35:14 +0000 http://freekorea.us/2007/07/05/the-fta-and-fortress-korea/#comment-48869 [...] (HT to One Free Korea) [...] [...] (HT to One Free Korea) [...]

]]>