[What's Up Silicon Valley] April 2007, and July 2025

On April 2, 2007. South Korea and the United States dramatically concluded the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. It was at the end of a tedious negotiation that lasted 14 months and 427 days. The Korea-U.S. FTA negotiations were conducted ten times in places including Washington DC, Seoul, and Jeju. The final 8th negotiation, just before the agreement was concluded, was held in Seoul. The deal between Korea and the U.S. was reached.

At that time, the tense negotiation process between Kim Jong-hoon, the chief representative of the Korea-U.S. FTA negotiations, and Wendy Cutler, the deputy representative of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), drew attention. This was because South Korea and the U.S. engaged in overnight negotiations every day from March 26. The time given to both sides until the conclusion of the negotiations was until the end of March. This was because the U.S. negotiating team had to notify the U.S. Congress of the intention to conclude the agreement 90 days before the expiration of the U.S. Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) scheduled for July 1. Time was very tight.

The biggest disagreement between Korea and the U.S. at that time was the issue of opening the Korean beef market. After the BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) outbreak in the U.S. in 2003, South Korea restricted imports of U.S. beef. At that time, the U.S. strongly demanded the complete opening of the Korean beef market as a precondition for concluding the FTA negotiations. Korea and the U.S. did not make significant progress on the beef issue. However, South Korea pursued a negotiation strategy to gain concessions from the U.S. in the automotive and textile sectors, and the U.S. accepted this, leading to the final conclusion of the Korea-U.S. FTA negotiations. It was a dramatic conclusion just before the negotiation deadline. Kim, the chief representative who led the conclusion of the Korea-U.S. FTA negotiations, recalled in an interview that the last 48 hours before the conclusion were a situation where he could neither sleep nor eat. Korea and the U.S. continued intense 'push and pull'.

The ongoing Korea-U.S. trade negotiations have many similarities to the 2007 FTA negotiations.

First, the deadline for concluding the negotiations is very imminent. The tight negotiation deadline acted as tremendous pressure on the Korea-U.S. FTA negotiating team at that time. In this Korea-U.S. trade negotiation, the lack of negotiation time is also urging South Korea to hurry.

Also, in this Korea-U.S. trade negotiation, there are significant differences of opinion between Korea and the U.S., just like during the 2007 Korea-U.S. FTA negotiations. Just as the U.S. strongly demanded the opening of the Korean beef market during the 2007 Korea-U.S. FTA negotiations. In this year's Korea-U.S. trade negotiations, the U.S. is demanding massive investments from South Korea. There are reports that the U.S. wants investments from South Korea at the level of Japan ($550 billion) or the European Union (EU, $600 billion). There is a considerable difference from the $100 billion+α that South Korea is considering.

If South Korea fails to conclude the trade negotiations with the U.S., it will face a 25% tariff on exports to the U.S. starting August 1. The situation is so urgent that the minister leading the negotiations with the U.S. flew to Scotland, UK, to meet with the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

Japan and the EU, which are competing with South Korea in the U.S. market, have already concluded negotiations with the U.S. and are leisurely watching South Korea's negotiations. The U.S. is well aware that South Korea wants to conclude the negotiations. Howard Lutnick, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce leading the U.S. trade negotiations, even said that after the conclusion of the U.S.-Japan trade negotiations, the Korean side reacted to the extent that curses could be heard, implying that South Korea was envious.

South Korea is aiming for a conclusion by offering cards in areas of interest to the U.S. A representative example is the proposal of a shipbuilding cooperation project worth tens of trillions of won, named 'MASGA' (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again), to the U.S.

If the retired key players of the April 2007 Korea-U.S. FTA negotiations were to give advice to the current Korea-U.S. trade agreement negotiating team, what would it be? 'Clearly distinguish between what to give and what to keep, and kept it', and 'You can get hints for concluding the negotiations through honest dialogue based on trust with the other party'.


theveryfirst@fnnews.com