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소아쌤

'FTA with Korea gives reciprocal benefit to US'

By 임정요

Published : Nov. 15, 2016 - 10:49

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The free trade deal between Seoul and Washington has contributed to increasing job opportunities in the United States by enhancing bilateral trade and investment, South Korea's vice finance minister said Tuesday.

"South Korea and the U.S have expanded economic cooperation that mutually benefited each other, and the Korea-US free trade agreement is an example," Vice Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said in a Seoul seminar co-hosted by the Korea Economic Institute of America, a Washington-based nonprofit think tank, and the state-run Korea Institute for International Economic Policy.

South Korea's Vice Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok speaks at a seminar co-hosted by the Korea Economic Institute of America, a Washington-based nonprofit think tank, and the state-run Korea Institute for International Economic Policy in Seoul on Nov. 15, 2016. (Yonhap) South Korea's Vice Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok speaks at a seminar co-hosted by the Korea Economic Institute of America, a Washington-based nonprofit think tank, and the state-run Korea Institute for International Economic Policy in Seoul on Nov. 15, 2016. (Yonhap)

"The FTA has promoted trade and investment in two countries and as a result, it has contributed to job creation in the US," Choi said.

His comments came as the Seoul-Washington free trade deal, which came into effect in 2012, has been under fire by US President-elect Donald Trump, who has strongly hinted at calling for renegotiations of the accord.

During his campaign, he blamed free trade deals, including the one with South Korea, for job losses and other economic damage.

The South Korean official said the FTA has encouraged South Korean companies investing in the US, including Samsung Electronics Co. and Hyundai Motor Co., to hire more people in the country.

They created more than 35,000 new jobs last year, tripling from data tallied in 2012, when the Korea-US FTA was first implemented, he said.

"Economic cooperation between the two countries will strengthen further," Choi said. "The two countries have established strong cooperative foundations based on the US alliance and economic cooperation." (Yonhap)

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