U.S. trade official says no to Kaesong goods

For U.S. FTA negotiators, issue political rather than economic

Karan Bhatia, deputy U.S. trade representative, said on September 26 that the United States cannot accept goods made at the joint Korean Gaeseong (Kaesong) Industrial Complex as ’South Korean made’ in the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement currently being negotiated. Bhatia said that any profits earned would benefit the North’s regime.

At a seminar held in Washington and jointly organized by the Chosun Ilbo and the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Bhatia said that the South Korea-U.S. FTA is based on a partnership between the two countries. Anything that will be profitable to the North Korea and its system cannot be included, he said.

Regarding the fact that an Israeli industrial complex in Egypt was included in the U.S.-Israel FTA, Bhatia cited a clear promise for political reform and an understanding of the reform direction between the two nations in that case. It is impossible to reach an agreement which can profit Pyongyang, the trade representative said.

Bhatia’s remarks indicate that the Gaeseong question may depend on the U.S. stance on issues like the North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, missile tests, and human rights violations, as the prevailing U.S. logic on the matter is not from an economic standpoint but rather a political one.