Korean agriculture to be greatly damaged by FTA
It is reported that if tariffs are abolished on imported agricultural products when a Korean-US Free Trade Agreement is executed, over 7 trillion won of income in the domestic agricultural sector will be lost. An FTA will also fatally damage educational institutes located in rural areas.
At a seminar held in Seoul yesterday under the title of “Korean-US FTA and the Korean Economy”, Professor Han Doo-bong of Korea University said, “According to KREL statistics that analyzed income of the Korean agricultural sector after FTA, there will be over 5 trillion won lost due to abolishing tariffs on imported agricultural products.”
With respect to education and an FTA, Song Young-shik stated, “A number of American higher education institutions, long distance learning programs, and intensive education centers will be introduced into the Korean educational market,” adding, “top-ranking American universities will also try to establish school systems in Korea, which would greatly influence Korean educational markets.”
Regarding the fisheries market, Lee Kwang-nam asserted, “Since the domestic fisheries market also will be hurt due to abolishing tariffs on imported fish products, it is necessary to raise funds for the impact of an FTA. Another source said, “Since the Korean financial services sector is less competitive than that of the US, it can be easily expected that some parts of domestic financial industries will be partially dominated after an FTA.”
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 / 입력시간: 2006. 05.18. 09:29
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