US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez wants Congress to approve the FTA, noting that the Korean government has gone out on a limb for it:
“Now, that Korean officials have gone out on a limb and accepted our beef — and as you know they’re paying a huge political price — our Congress is standing still,” Gutierrez said. “So, at this point (the Koreans) feel like they have given everything and we haven’t given anything back.”
Touching, although at this juncture, I think the Korean officials in question are more worried about heads on pikes than about anything going on in the US Congress.
Gutierrez also said that the US would not renegotiate the beef deal. This, I increasingly believe after much discussion with a friend of mine, might — if the protests continue — be a bad idea, since it only hurts our friends (2MB) and helps our, well, less-close-friends (like Sohn Hak-kyu and the UDP). And 30-month-old beef, a product that made up only 2% of total US beef exports to Korea prior to the 2003 ban, just doesn’t seem critical enough to leave 2MB twisting in the wind. If we play this smart, US beef will come in, people will buy it, the FTA might get passed, and 2MB will have a new lease on life that he could use to change his leadership style AND plot revenge on some of the less savory characters in this fiasco (like MBC).
Yes, I know the dangers, not the least of which is giving the impression to the Korean public that Washington will capitulate to Korean wailing and rending of garments, which, given the Korean public’s well demonstrated fondness for wailing and rending of garments, is something akin to feeding an addiction. I guess it’s not impossible that, high on their victory and convinced now of the efficacy of extra-parliamentary politics, the Korean left might be emboldened to continue their “politics by other means” until additional political goals were met. If this were the Roh presidency and the same thing were happening, I’d say let the FTA die and reawaken Super 301. But this ISN’T Roh — it’s a friend of America in a jam (for which, admittedly, he is largely responsible). He wants to import US beef, we want to sell him US beef, so perhaps it would be best to help give him a chance.
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Anytime you indulge, abet, subsidize or explain away a certain kind of behavior or activity, you can surely expect to see more of it.
Our Commerce Secretary comes off as a bit out of touch at this time.
I would love to see MBC and others go down over this travesty.
“I’d say let the FTA die and reawaken Super 301. ”
On the contrary, I’d say that would help Lee quite a bit. Enough is enough, the left wing Koreans have to be cut down once and for all, and Korea has to be forced into opening their market.
First, announce that the US will not export beef to South Korea if this is going to cause this much problem to an ally. But announce that the Congress will vote on the 301 for Korea, to put sweeping tariffs on Korean products for violating other protectionist practices other than beef.
This will wake up the ignorant clowns who are enjoying a day’s out in the protest, bringing their kids out. Once they hear it on the news that the Korean stock market has crashed and that their jobs and livelihood are going to be on the line, the mood will quickly change. Suddenly Lee Myung Bak will now be able to say “You had your way. But See? I told you what will happen if you had your way”. Suddenly the left wingers will have a lot of explaining to do as to how they plan to counter this unexpected turn of event. It could be more anti American agitating. But I don’t think ordinary Koreans will be in the mood by then to partake on further lunacy with them.
i second cm.
I third CM.
The US would be foolish not to allow the restriction of 30 month beef. As you mentioned, it is a small price to pay in terms of trade and could lead to much bigger payouts in the future.
The pinkos have pushed this issue beyond the point of no return (in regards to the original agreement) - the fact that it was done with lies and fear mongering is irrelevant. The 30 month limit is the best escape for both sides.
The Korean Government hasn’t accepted anything yet. That’s the mobs view after Bush said “no beef older than 30 months would be exported to S. Korea. Don’t they believe Bush? The mob wants something other than words, such as a written document.
But, if it’s given to LMB then what good will it do after they kick him out of office? I’m sure he’ll take all soft/hard documents with him like the Roh administration did. Maybe the written document should be given to the mob. I think negotiating with S. Korea/mob would be similiar to negotiating with Osama Bin Laden. Gutierrez is counting thy little chicks before they are hatched.
“I increasingly believe after much discussion with a friend of mine”
My, if only I had a friend too, then I too could increasingly believe something.
Pray tell, who is this mystery confidant/adviser/muse/liason? You could add weight to your reasoning.
“If we play this smart, US beef will come in, people will buy it, the FTA might get passed, and 2MB will have a new lease on life that he could use to change his leadership style AND plot revenge on some of the less savory characters in this fiasco (like MBC).”
Don’t forget World Peace, 27 virgins in the after life and perpetual motion.
But honestly speaking, I prefer hash, too, it gives me a really mellow high.
BTW, your use of the word ‘we’ throughout is strange given your choice of wardrobe. Do you claim to view this affair objectively , but side with the US and its pupdog in Seoul after careful analysis (pun unintended), or are you merely being partisan? What happened to the Korea loving Marmot?
It will be funny if the US folds on this.
#7 - Is this guy a plant by the far Left or some other force to discredit Koreans who speak/write English well?
I’m merely being partisan.
swlee, wjk,
the enter key is optional.
seriously guys.
All you gotta do after a period is make two spaces with the spacebar,
and then keep on goin.
Not two strikes of the enter key,
two pushes of the spacebar.
This writing style that I’m emulating is aggrivating me to no end.
I’ll just snap some day if you keep it up.
God help us all then.
#8 I don’t know. Are you talking about the Marmot? I think he is pro-US. I don’t know about other force, but I think extraterrestrial or Jedi is very unlikely.
Koehler has always been objective and fair in his posts.
@2, you are naive. The left are more manipulating than that they are in a perfect political position if the economy bombs.
I think you are forgetting the liberals do not want capitalism in Korea. They want an economy though, and hopefully people here understand the difference and in the objectives of the communist/liberal/confucian party.
Sorry mateomichael. I didn’t know was over doing it. I know WJK does and it irritates me too, but not enough to comment. He seems to like it, and its probably why Dogbeat calls him Al Sharpton. I try to only use the enter button when I change the topic.
Removal of the foreskin at birth does not make a dick less sensitive.
Gutierrez is a shrewd businessman. I had the pleasure to meet him in December 2006 during a brief visit to Seoul.
His statements represent a view of creating an opportunity out of crisis. Being a former Kellogs man, maybe he would prefer it if Koreans can mass import corn flakes instead of the 2% that the 30 month beef makes up.
How much does it cost for a box of cornflakes in Seoul?
My wife would cringe, wail, and and smash the computer if she felt any civilized country was a friend of the evil 2MB. According to her, and her legion of netizens, 2MB and the GNP are destroying democracy right before the world’s eyes.
It seems that the protests, and all that they encompass in their anti-2MB , anti-American, anti-beef, and now, even anti-canal elements, will only increase if the beef deal doesn’t get renegotiated. This, despite the fact that both countries have already agreed to have only beef 30 months and younger imported into the ROK.
It’s a vicious arguement between us daily for the past 2 weeks. “You don’t even know how old the beef is in America!” says she. “That’s right. You know why? Mad Cow has never been a problem in the US!” (Door slams)
I feel bad for the politicians tasked with the chore of reassuring the Korean public about the safety of American beef. Their task, from my experience, is a futile one. References to risk, and disease history in the US are met with disbelief, and indignation.
“But I don’t think ordinary Koreans will be in the mood by then to partake on further lunacy with them.”
CM, the locals wills have forgotten their protests about beef, and use the 301 as the new starting point for their new protests against America. Never underestimate the local ability to play victim.
The plan calls for creation of an “open and seamless” economic system in East Asia. The business networks must expand until all Korea is an integrated system for this purpose. The plan: combat intra-regional infighting by stealthily stoking nationalism to create a stronger common Korean identity. First foment a populace movement resentful of kowtowing to colonialism. A crazy cow will do for this purpose. Then the jiu-jitsu move: allow the populace to win Ghandi style. Make them “own” the position they think they have won. Just like in India, make the people believe they “own” their government. Then government over-regulates the agricultural and business sector till middle class business is financially exhausted, frustrated, and squeezed out.
Then the economic policy is facilitated: Monopoly Capitalism.
Allow the chaebols to buy up the infrastructure through public-private partnerships, and fire sales of the bankrupt. Mandate the unemployed to obtain “retraining certificates” as requisites for corporate employment.
Expand the military, private security and sex-industry for those who can’t compete for the best government and coroporate jobs. Reach the United Nations goals for regional sustained government. After fifty years goes by then seriously consider an FTA with the North American Union.
I see Carlos as pushing for Congress to pass the FTA. He is actually using the protests to say, hey 2MB is in trouble, we can not pass the FTA on the merits, lets approve this to help him out. The hell with the US economy, lets pass something Bush can be remembered for. Otherwise all Bush has is the Iraq War and Katrina.
Don’t forget dyslexia, hanging chads, Halliburton, renditioning, 7-11, begin of the end of US hegemony, and Afghanistan.
Why can’t I post a link?
Anyway, I was trying to link a yahoo story about the protests. It’s gaining more attention in the U.S.
When did Gutierrez get the Manchurian Candidate treatment?
It’s seems to me that most Koreans think they should get anything/everything they want and not give anything back. It’s always take, take, take with them.
They expect to flood other nation’s markets with their goods and have their companies make huge profits, but you don’t dare try the same with them.
Korean men seem to think it’s their right to date foreign females and even have TV shows about it, but don’t you dare steal “their” women if you’re a foreign guy. Sure if you are rich and famous it’s more acceptable, but it’s still stealing “their” women regardless.
When was the last time you heard about a Korean cussing out a Korean guy in public for being with a foreign woman? It may happen, but when do you hear stories about it?
They bitch and moan (and demonstrate)about Americans/foreigners, but Americans/foreigners have no right to do the same about them.
They expect to be respected elsewhere in the world when they go some place, but they don’t do the same for others. This is despite the fact that they say they are so kind to outsiders.
How many half or non-Koreans born here are appointed to senior positions in the public or private sectors for example?
This thinking isn’t true of all Koreans and some (the cool ones) hate that kind of shit, but the majority of voices always drown out the minority of voices.
20: There was a full-page article in the latest Newsweek, too. The tagline was “America and South Korea have much to gain from their big trade deal, but may kill it for silly reasons.”
http://www.newsweek.com/id/139402
The TV coverage of the situation is gaining momentum. It’s on the headlines for the BBC and Al Jazeera. Interestingly, the BBC talked about the protests and then mad cow disease, while Al Jazeera showed footage of the debates, and then the political fallout for LMB. To quote the guy they talked to on the street “(LMB) doesn’t listen to us. This is our constitutional right.” They also quoted that the beef trade to S.K. is worth $800 million.
Whoops. Showed footage of the protests and the blockades, not the debates.
Marmot as much as I respect your opinion, I would like to see this play out. Because, as inept the lefties are, the conservatives have been sleeping through a changing republic. I begin to think that Korea will swing towards the psuedo democratic messes that constitute Western Europe. Sad, really, but not overly so since its a matter of self-determination. I wonder how long this lame episode will last against a backdrop of serious international portents. Why should it play out? Because at worst Korea just becomes another middling country with a middling culture and a middling economy. And if it has a better future then something better than that mediocrity. You cannot gift something a nation or people lack. You wait and see if they have that something special inside. Let them protest.
Slim, That lefty may be a Panda plant, they’re getting pretty sino centric full of themselves these days. Expect strongarm street tactics, bluster and bravado to migrate into English language blogs to enlighten all the rest, this prattle may be just the initial wave…
What’s really ridiculous is Korean companies don’t make huge profits. Most Korean companies are barely solvent, what with the bloodsucker class spiriting away profits by means of embezzlement and bribery.
Pops,
how did you know? Do you also know that we are watching you at night? That the fruit and vegetable truck that goes past every hour is actually my commanding officer pumping subliminal messages into your brain while you ready for work. Gotta go, am causing a revolution at 1300hrs, need to clean my mouse.
How exactly do the Koreans justify the statement that they’ve given everything? It seems just the opposite. They’ve agreed to a trade deal via an elected government and now they want to renege on it. The US has not reneged. The US is ready to hold up its end of the bargain.
It’s Lone Star over again in one key way- lack of Korean reliability based on xenophobia and nationalism, and at the expense of reason and self interest.
At this point, any action taken by the US Gov’t, outside an endless cycle of giving in on one issue at a time while the Koreans have the next one heating up, will be met with powerful opposition. I think we have to stay out of it and let them sort out their own political mess.
If the UDP or anyone protesting is serious about renegotiating, isn’t it interesting that there’s been nary a peep about what the Korean side should give up in order to be granted the renege on beef??
It goes to show that there is no maturity on the part of those on the streets. If the US comes back with such an idea, a little quid pro quo, how do you think the mob will react? “Look! I’m being oppressed!” Right out of Monty Python.
I nth CM.
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