Lee, Hu stress ‘common goal’ of peace and security on Korean Peninsula


BEIJING -- South Korea decided to take the “domestic steps” needed to initiate official negotiations over a free trade pact with China, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.

One or two months will be taken to complete the local legal process, after which the two countries will enter a two-phase negotiation process to discuss sensitive issues and ensure the balance of economic interests in the envisioned pact, Seoul officials said.

The decision was announced after President Lee Myung-bak and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao held summit talks here. Lee’s second state visit to China comes as the countries celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year.





Lee and Hu also agreed to work together to achieve the “common goal of peace and security” on the Korean Peninsula and discussed changing security conditions after the demise of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

“To begin official negotiations, there should be an apparatus to ensure sufficient bilateral consultation to discuss sensitive civilian sectors including the agricultural sector. We will discuss negotiation procedures and issues that can be sufficiently understood by the sectors,” Lee was quoted by his aide as saying during the summit talks.

Kim Tae-hyo, senior presidential secretary for external affairs, explained that the official negotiation process will be carried out in two steps.

“In the first stage, the two sides will discuss the areas, including the agricultural sector, that each side believes are sensitive. We will discuss which areas will be opened, when and how much they will be opened,” he said.

“When we reach an acceptable negotiation result at that stage, we will move on to the second stage during which the two sides will discuss issues such as industrial products. But we never know how much time it will take for the first stage to be over.”

The two sides have carried out discussions on the feasibility of the FTA for the last eight years. They shared the common understanding on its importance as their economic ties have deepened.

The two-way trade volume, which stood at $6.3 billion in 1992 when the two countries opened diplomatic relations, topped $200 billion in 2011.

For Seoul to launch any official FTA negotiations with a foreign country, it first must go through a set of local procedures stipulated in a presidential rule.

The Seoul government must first put on public notice its announcement for public hearings on a FTA and hold them about two weeks after public notification. Related ministers then make a final decision on that after a working-level review of all related issues.

After talks between the trade ministers of the two countries, they are to announce the official start of FTA negotiations.

The possibility of the FTA between South Korea and China has been mentioned as the U.S. has been promoting the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement in what observers called part of its moves to keep China in check.

Regarding the peninsular security issue, Hu highly evaluated Seoul’s “calm and relaxed” response to the situation unfolding after the death of Kim Jong-il.

“The Chinese leadership highly evaluated the Seoul government’s calm and relaxed response including President Lee’s New Year’s speech,” Hu was quoted by Kim as saying.

“China will play its role to help the two Koreas to have a process of reconciliation and cooperation through dialogue.”

The two leaders also agreed to make efforts to prevent the recurrence of an incident in December in which a South Korean Coast Guard officer was stabbed to death by a Chinese fisherman caught illegally operating in South Korean waters.

President Lee expressed hope that China will take a more effective measure to prevent such situations while Hu said that China will do its part to strengthen educational and other management programs through bilateral cooperative channels.

The two leaders also agreed to seek a bilateral agreement that prevents businesspeople of the two countries from having to pay double insurance fees. 

The agreement, should it be reached, would benefit some 30,000 Korean businesspeople operating in China and reduce insurance costs for them by around 450 billion won ($387 million) annually.

During the summit talks, they also concurred that it is crucial for the two countries to continue and enhance their “strategic partnership.”

In May 2008, the two leaders agreed to upgrade bilateral ties to a “strategic partnership” to expand their cooperation, focused on economic ties, to a wide range of fields including security, political, cultural and international issues.

Before the summit talks, Lee met National People’s Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo to discuss ways to improve bilateral relations including parliamentary people-to-people exchanges.

Despite increasing economic exchanges, bilateral ties have somewhat chilled in recent years over North Korean issues. China, the North’s lone patron and ally, has long supported the North, which launched two attacks in 2010 that killed 50 South Koreans.

On Tuesday, Lee is to meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. He is to return home on Wednesday.

By Song Sang-ho, Korea Herald correspondent

(sshluck@heraldcorp.com)