2 out of 3 Koreans disapprove of KORUS FTA renegotiation

Two out of three respondents oppose the renegotiation of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) — 65 percent were against it while 29.1 percent were for it.

The bilateral trade deal went into effect in 2012 to significantly increase trade volume between the two countries. Dubbing it a “job killer,” however, U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed that it should be renegotiated. After his inauguration early this year, he even threatened that Washington will terminate it all together if Seoul does not make considerable concessions.

The five-year-old pact has been widely praised as an example of a win-win bilateral contract but Trump contends that it has caused great losses to the world’s top economy.

Trump’s bold threats, dubbed the “madman strategy,” have embarrassed the Moon Jae-in administration. The poll shows that they seem to irritate the Korean people, too.

The two sides began a process to amend the FTA last month. South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and U.S. Trade Representative RobertLighthizer are leading the two-way discussions.

The procedures are expected to take a long time because any crucial revisions of the FTA are subject to approval of the legislative bodies of both countries.

Gaeseong Industrial Complex

A majority of respondents oppose the reopening of the inter-Korean joint industrial complex in the North’s border city of Gaeseong — 57.2 percent were against it while 40.7 percent were for it.

The Gaeseong Industrial Complex, which was established in 2000 following the historic inter-Korean summit, used to have more than 120 South Korean companies operating there.

But the previous Park Geun-hye administration closed the joint industrial complex in February 2016 in protest of Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test. In response, the North announced that it would freeze all South Korean assets at the complex.

The progressive Moon Jae-in government is expected to resume the Gaeseong facility, which has been regarded as the symbol of cooperation between the two Koreas. But The Korea Times poll shows that the cons still outnumber the pros for the measure.

Recently, there were news reports that North Korea had opened part of the industrial park, claiming that it has the right to run the facility in its territory.

Seoul has yet to come up with any measures to halt Pyongyang’s unilateral operation of the factories.

Political orientations

Among the respondents, 28.7 percent categorized themselves as progressive while 26.1 percent regarded themselves as conservative. Up to 39.5 percent said that they are politically neutral and 5.8 percent refused to respond to the question.

A total of 11.6 percent of them thought they are strongly progressive compared to 16.8 percent, who said they are strongly conservative.