Korea-U.S. FTA

The Beef Agreement

Troy Stangarone of Washington's Korea Economic Institute provides a nice overview of the beef agreement in the July Korea Insight: Fourth of July BBQ or More Fireworks in Seoul?
He also looks at some of the other impacts of the protests.

Income Inequality and the Beef Protests

Evan Ramstad and Sungha Park explore deeper issues underlying the Korean beef protests: South Korean Protests Show Depth of Anger, Challenge President (Wall Street Journal, July 3).  They argue that, although ostensibly about beef, the demonstrations reflected deep popular frustration with rising income inequality and poverty, and competitive pressures in the labor market, and competitive foreign pressure in agricultural markets:

"Democratization has been a disappointment," says Yoon Geum-soon, who runs a small fruit farm and is active in a women's rights group staging protests. "All the wealth goes to a few people, while others work hard for too little."

When she joined a similar protest movement that brought democracy to South Korea in 1987, the 48-year-old Mrs. Yoon says she expected that not only would the public elect its own government but also that all Koreans would get wealthier together. Instead, her business is failing as cheaper imported fruit reduces prices, and she fears she won't be able to send her teenage twins to college next year....

Mrs. Yoon, the farmer, is annoyed that things are still so tough for her children. When South Korea joined the World Trade Organization and opened its fruit market in January 1995, the government lent Mrs. Yoon 15 million won (about $15,000) at a 3% interest rate, and her family built greenhouses that year.

But she says that imported oranges from California proved to be too much competition for her Korean yellow melons. Then, energy prices rose and forced her to shut the greenhouses in 1996. Despite 14-hour working days, she was left with debts that she's coping with today.

"My twins are now in the third grade of high school," she says, which means they face college-entrance exams in November. "If they don't get into college, it's a worry for their future. But if they do, that's a worry too, as I have no idea how I would be able to pay the tuition."