2006年VOA标准英语-Free Trade Talks With US Face Strong Pocke

By Kurt Achin
Seoul
12 April 2006

 
A South Korean protester shouts slogan during an anti-government rally denouncing the South Korean government's move to forge a free trade deal with the United States (March 6, 2006)
  
South Korea and the United States begin negotiations¹ in June on a free trade agreement. South Korean leaders, however, face pockets of strong domestic pressure to protect certain industries. The country is experiencing a conflict between its identity as a trade giant and its desire to shield local producers from economic pain.

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Angry South Korean farmers shout as police open up fire hoses on protesters trying to breach² their lines. This recent protest, against the gradual opening of South Korean consumer markets to imported rice, was one of many similar demonstrations³ held in the past year.

South Korea exported more than $284 billion worth of goods and services to world markets in 2005 - nearly $44 billion of that to the United States.

The Korea International Trade Association says exports accounted for 70 percent of the country's economic growth. According to the World Bank, the country ran a trade surplus of about $23 billion last year with the rest of the world.

U.S. and South Korean leaders say a free trade agreement, or FTA, between the two countries would create more high-end jobs and export opportunities for both. It would also give American companies the kind of access to South Korean markets that Korean companies have enjoyed for decades in the United States.

Much of the agreement is likely to cover regulations that allow South Korea to keep many imports out of the country. In addition, tariffs⁴ and quotas⁶ are likely to be discussed. U.S. negotiators say the two countries should reach a deal by next March, with the goal of having it approved in Congress by July 2007.

While negotiators consider the fine points of a trade deal, South Korean farmers draw a distinction between their country's exports, its giant companies and their own lives.

This farmer attending a protest complains he is not Samsung Corporation - he is just a person trying to survive as previous generations of his family have.

Many Korean farmers view the FTA as an attack on their culture and lifestyle - they fear that imports of cheaper U.S. foods will put them out of business. For similar reasons, South Korea film professionals also oppose the agreement.
 

South Korean protesters stage an anti-government rally against the government's plan to cut the screen quota⁵ for local films in downtown Seoul, Feb. 8, 2006   
  
Movie actors and production workers held their own protest recently, to condemn⁷ a cut in the domestic film quota for theaters. Celebrities⁸ and filmmakers warn that if theaters are not required to show South Korean films a certain number of days, competition from Hollywood will swamp the local industry.

A film director, who prefers not to be identified, says the drop in the screen quota is like being invaded by the United States.

Much of the recent anti-FTA rhetoric⁹ has had a similar alarmist tone. A former presidential secretary recently compared the FTA to the treaty that gave Japan control of Korea in 1905. A former agriculture minister complained the agreement would turn South Korea into the "51st U.S. state."

Tami Overby, president of the American Chamber¹⁰ of Commerce in Seoul, says she thinks the South Korean media are helping¹¹ generate a sense of alarm.

"They seem quite convinced that the U.S. is going to steamroll over Korea in these negotiations, and I believe that's absolutely false. I think people are misjudging the Korean government's preparedness on this," she said.

Overby says she hopes the FTA helps eliminate some of the "non-transparent" trade barriers, which make it hard for foreign companies to operate in South Korea. Those often take the form of pages of regulations specific to South Korea, making it difficult for car manufacturers and other exporters to enter the market here.

Although opposition¹² to a trade deal is organized and vocal¹³, there is considerable support for it within the South Korean business community. The head of the Korea International Trade Association, which represents 80,000 companies, recently compared a successful FTA with moving a boat into a larger ocean, allowing Korean companies to catch bigger fish in the U.S. market.

The best harbinger for the success of the FTA talks is the support of President Roh Moo-hyun, who says the agreement is crucial to the country's future.

Even among the FTA's most stalwart opponents, there is a tacit awareness¹⁴ that globalization and other factors are unavoidably changing South Korea's economy. For instance, farmers find their children are not interested in the hard physical work of the fields, and many young men who want to farm find that few South Korean women are interested in marrying them.

Hong Joon-keun, secretary-general of the Korea Farmer's Cooperation Council Association, says he would not urge his children to become farmers.

Hong says there is no benefit in farming for them, with the changes that the Free Trade Agreement will bring. He adds that most of South Korea's rural farmers are now in their 60s. They, like their industry itself, may not have much time left.

1 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

2 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

3 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

4 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

5 quota   

n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额

参考例句：

• A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
• He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。

6 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

7 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

8 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

9 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

10 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

14 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。