South Korea`s FTA Strategy under Roh Moo-hyun

Abstract

There have been two competing approaches to promoting international trade since the end of the Second World War. One approach focuses on building a multilateral trading system, while the other on forming Preferential Trade Agreements ( PTAs) including Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs). People who support the former approach advocate regulation of cross-border trade flows through a global trading organization. The establishment of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947 was the first attempt to do so. The subsequent accumulated strenuous efforts finally brought about the creation of World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995. Since then, it has emerged as the most influential and important organization for managing the exponentially increasing global trade and economic relations and resolving the disputes that arise in the process. This International Organization, as originally envisaged by its founders, has become the most important multilateral mechanism in governing global economy and trade and has the most deciding influence in states` political and economic policies.\r\n\r\nNevertheless, forming FTAs and RTAs has become a newly emerging trend of worldwide trade since the late 1990s. In the period between 1947 and 1994, right up to the launching of the WTO, there were 125 FTAs including a customs union concluded. However, between 1995 and 2003, the number soared to 130 with over 70 cases in progress. Up to January 4, 2005 , there were 122 FTAs referred to the WTO worldwide. Sixteen FTAs were in the Asia-ocean area. This trend has further expedited since the consecutive failures of the WTO Millennium Round`s Third Ministerial Conference in Seattle in November-December 1999 and the 5th WTO ministerial talks in Cancun , Mexico in September 2003. Countries began to hurry into FTAs with each other instead of pursuing the multilateral Doha Development Agenda (DDA). In East Asia , countries did not actively pursue signing the FTAs until the end of 1990s, mainly because they firmly believed that the best way to protect their national interest is through the multilateral trading system. However, with the failure of the WTO Millennium Round`s Third Ministerial Conference in Seattle in 1999, they began losing confidence in the multilateral trading system and shifted to exploring FTAs. Singapore was the first East Asian country to start FTA initiative, followed by Japan and South Korea .\r\n\r\ngainst this background, i n this paper, the author intends to first explain why FTA is more popular than WTO since the late 1990s, then analy z e South Korea`s FTA strategy as a case study by first examining the evolution of its FTA policy, then exploring motivations behind Seoul`s decision for initiating the FTA negotiations with the US in June 2006, assessing the results of their FTA negotiations versus South Korean motivations, and finally the impl

由於 南韓 對國外市場倚賴甚深，其對國際環境的變遷一向極為敏感，而且因應迅速。其 自由貿易協定（ Free Trade Agreement, 簡稱 FTA ） 的政策亦不例外。 就南韓簽訂 FTA 的情況而言，其起步在東亞國家裡並不算晚， 1998 年 11 月金大中政府即選定智利與日本作為洽簽 FTA 的對象，但是直到 2003 年 2 月 南韓始與智利 簽署其第一個 FTA ， 在東亞 FTA 熱潮中顯然居於落後的地位。因此， 求生存，不被孤立與防止被邊緣化遂成為 盧武鉉政府 積極對外簽署 FTA 的是南韓積極簽署 FTA 的主要動機。在南韓看來，在區域經濟區塊化與全球化並存的今日，沒有雙邊 FTA 的國家等同遭到孤立與邊緣化。所以簽署 FTA 對南韓言，沒有選擇之餘地，是必要的抉擇。 2003 年 8 月 盧武鉉政府釐定「積極推進 FTA 的 路線圖 」 ， 宗旨是同時、多方、積極推進 FTA ， 並將與美國完成 FTA 簽署作為其「同時洽簽多個 FTA 政策的最終目標」。原因是如不加快與相關國家進行 FTA 協商，南韓將在世界出口市場上被孤立。\r\n\r\n隨著中國 - 東協 FTA 進展加速，南韓的 FTA 策略轉而越來越著重於與亞洲國家簽 FTA 之走勢。但南韓主要經濟智庫 皆建議政府為了要擴大商機與在海外市場取得有利的地位，南韓必須積極推動與美國、中國、歐洲聯盟（ EU ）與 印度等經濟大國或主要經濟區塊展開 FTA 協商，並將這些國家與區塊列為主要洽簽 的對象，尤其美國應列為首要對象，其次為 中國與 EU 。 2007 年 4 月 韓美完成 FTA 談判，並於 7 月正式簽署，由於南韓搶在東北亞各國之前與美國簽訂 FTA ，取得先機與戰略優勢，提升自身的地位。南韓最大的收穫是能將對其越來越不利的區域商業環境旋乾轉坤，借力使力，扭轉成對其有利的環境。南韓的獲利是可藉韓美 FTA 確保美國市場，增加南韓產品在美國市場的競爭力，並大幅提昇其未來與其他大經濟體 EU 、中國與日本等進行 FTA 的談判籌碼以及在東北亞乃至亞洲經濟整合中取得戰略優勢。從政治與戰略來看，南韓與美簽署 FTA 大幅提升身價，成為中美爭取合作的與國，為盧武鉉所欲扮演的東北亞平衡者的角色提供有利的環境。更何況，韓美 FTA 也為南韓亟欲成為的東北亞營運中心的理想製造有利的契機。在外交方面，南韓尋求中國的奧援來化解美日對北韓的強硬立場以及制衡日本的擴軍與強烈的政治企圖心。