By Ahn Choong-yong

A common Korean expression to describe self-destructive, abnormal and irrational behavior is “lying on one’s back and spitting.” If you lie on your back and spit, the saliva will probably fall back to your face. One of the policy platforms adopted by the two opposition parties, namely the Democratic United Party and the Unified Progressive Party, is intended to scrap the free trade agreement between Korea and the United States (KORUS FTA) if they together become the majority in Korea’s National Assembly in the April’s general elections and win the Presidential election in December.

This strategy appears to be a perfect example of self-degrading behavior, just like lying on one’s back and spitting. Everyone knows the KORUS FTA has undergone a hardnosed bargaining process for almost six years and has been formally passed by both the U.S. Congress and Korea’s National Assembly, recognized by the world community as a monumental turning point, along with the Korea-EU FTA, for Korea’s development to become an FTA hub nation.

In a parliamentary democratic system, a political party is free to adopt whatever policy platforms appropriate to receive popular support in an election. However, there must be an irreversible bottom line on which a civilized country must remain to honor international accords and commitments. I felt ashamed seeing photos of opposition lawmakers swarming in front of the U.S. Embassy to openly deliver a public letter to U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Congressional leaders, demanding renegotiation of the mutually ratified KORUS FTA and even scrapping it altogether in the event the U.S. were to reject their re-negotiation request. The picture itself has already damaged Korea’s national integrity and reputation. Honoring a contract among individuals is the foundation for a modern civilized society. Needless to say, an international accord and treaty must be more firmly honored and observed. This is universally understood. Suppose the KORUS FTA is scrapped as the opposition party’s platform wants. What country would trust Korea in an international deal?

The opposition parties have opposed the KORUS FTA basically on the grounds of two allegedly poisonous clauses: the first involves the investor-state disputes (ISD) clause, which can destabilize Korea’s sovereign judicial right at the whim of U.S. multinational companies invested in Korea; and the second is Korea’s additional loss in the auto sector due to renegotiations in exchange for enhanced U.S. gain. In recent years, Korean companies have made overseas green-field investments reaching an annual average of $23 billion while arrived inbound FDI remained at about $6 to $7 billion. In this context, the ISD clause, which is common in any bilateral investment treaty, is more likely to shield the interests of Korean companies invested abroad from unfair treatments by host economies, and there has not been a single ISD case by U.S. companies in Korea. On the auto sector’s alleged loss, Korea’s automobile manufacturers and parts and components makers fully support the auto deal and anxiously await effectuation of the KORUS FTA.

Even with respect to the much-publicized damage and potential injuries to the agricultural sector due to the KORUS FTA, we see some new signs of early movers to organic farming and quality livestock management, which shows that Koreans now prefer high-quality farm products cultivated on indigenous soil to imported farm produce. Bipartisan support has already allocated an additional budget to provide a social safety net for marginal farmers. Even Korea’s textile and apparel sector, which met its demise due to China’s low-price products despite having once been the symbol of Korean exports to the U.S. market, appears to be experiencing a revival to enter the U.S. market with low or no tariff. So new jobs and business opportunities for small and medium-sized firms are emerging as the opposition parties have called for.

Korea must navigate its future path among the four major powers that are the United States, China, Japan and Russia. The KORUS FTA also provides Korea with robust leverage to deal with the complexity and uncertainty of Korea’s security environment. This year’s crucial elections put Korea at a crossroads toward the future. Korea’s general public must be smart enough to assess a political party’s myopic vote-getting objective and ensure that Korea remains a trustworthy and reliable partner in an increasingly competitive world economy.