Welcome to BASE21

The launching of the WTO new muti-lateral free trade negotiation is coming, under the title of Millenium Round. In spite of strong and world-wide resistances against the WTO new round by the international civil society, TNCs and imperialist countries are pushing its launch. Without exception, Korean government is also advertizing the benefits of 'free trade and investment' under the slogan of 'national interest', and very busy to make propaganda that Korea is one of the countries to be most benefited by the WTO regime. However, we can make sure that most Korean people has been excluded from the re-distribution process of, so-called, the 'benefit of free trade and economic development'. Especially in the process of 'economic recovery' from the IMF crisis, the gap of income between the upper and lower classes has been widened more. So we denounce strongly the government's propaganda that 'free trade and investment' has given and will give equitable profit to the whole people. We, Korean people, oppose the launching of the WTO New Round which will promote the process of globalization and liberalization. We support strongly international campaign opposing the WTO and the launch of the New Round. In the following text, I will give you some analysis on the Korean government's position to the WTO new round, and criticism on it from the people's viewpoint.

A>The government must retract its position of the 'market principles,' 'logic of competition,' and 'logic of economics' and accept as its central focus the democracy and the furthering of people's basic rights both on the national and international level in the course of preparing for the New Round.

We must remember the government's promise after giving away the agricultural products market at the Uruguay Round, in 1994. Promises that the industry would improve and that the benefits would be returned to the people, and that this would benefit the entire nation in the long run turned out to be false as time proved that the only ones to benefit from the negotiations were the chae-bol and a handful of ruling-elites. The livelihood of countless farmers were destroyed and the redistribution of benefits have not occurred. The current government, much like before, is promising that the country is on the right path toward recovery from the IMF crisis, and that we must continue to push forward with IMF's reform program. The government's position on the New Round is along the same lines. However, the government must face up to the reality of the results that the IMF's reform program has brought to the people of Korea. It has brought on the boom of speculative investment in the stock market, countless workers have been put out to the streets, and public services have been reduced in the name of privatization. The government must admit that the quality of life for the people of Korea have gone down. The government has forced market principles in the sectors of public health and education, announcing that it would do away with small schools in the rural areas and that public health centers would be subject to structural adjustment programs. This is a violation of the right to health and the right to an education which is guaranteed in the Korean Constitution. If the government continues to uphold its 'principles of the market' in preparing for the New Round, it can only bring the serious violation of the principles of democracy and the destruction of the people's basic rights that we have fought for so long.

B> The government must withdraw from its position of supporting the New Round for 'more liberalization', with new fields such as investment, competition, and government procurement transparency, within the WTO system.

The government currently supports the comprehensive free trade negotiations form of the New Round. It has even stepped up as the missionary for the start of the comprehensive free trade negotiations, already having turned in its opinions on the new fields scheduled to be negotiated within the WTO negotiations. "It is time to free ourselves from the stereo-type of trade negotiations equalling the opening up of our markets. It is important to support our corporations entrance into foreign markets by actively eliminating trade blocks and standardizing multi-lateral investment agreements, thereby increasing stability and market predictability."(Lee Si-Hyoung, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) However, what the governments is hiding is the fact that this position only serves the economic interests of international corporations and chae-bol, without any consideration for the livelihood and the quality of life of the people, or social development. Many developing countries have stated concerns about the fact that the Uruguay Rounds have not brought them the benefits they were promised. They are opposed to the new fields being brought into the WTO negotiations at the New Round, and have pushed for talks in which existing treaties are reviewed and reformed. We believe that these problems of 'unequal treaties and unequal redistribution of wealth' are not just the problems of developing countries. The liberalization of Korean markets in existing treaties have only contributed to the accumulation of capital for the chae-bol, and have led to the steady decrease in the conditions of the lives of workers and farmers, the environment, social benefits, and basic democratic rights. The fact that special laws designed in 1994 to save farmers, the biggest casualties of the Uruguay Round, have not yet taken effect is a symbolic case.

C> We demand the delay of the inauguration of the New Round until a total reevaluation and reexamination of the existing WTO treaties with the full participation of 'citizens, social movement organizations and trade unions' have been completed, especially its effects on democracy, environment, public health care, human rights, labor rights, women's rights, and the development of developing countries.

We remember the inauguration of the WTO 5 years back, with its fancy slogans of 'international redistribution of wealth' and 'international expansion of the opportunity for employment.' After 5 years, however, the results have been the exact opposite. Wealth was concentrated to the TNCs, and poverty expanded. Jobs became harder to find also. The TNCs have remarkably increased production by 26% while decreasing the number of employees by 4% abroad during the years 93-96. Korea hasn't been an exception. Among many examples, Mando Machinery layed off 1000 of it's workers after being sold to foreign companies. We confirm that the 'free trade and investment system' of the WTO and its promise of increased employment is not being kept.
The fact that many of the developing countries have already expressed the inequalities in previous WTO treaties, and countless national and international social movement organizations have demanded the moratorium on the New Round in itself is proof of the many problems of the WTO system. Therefore, we are against any action that increases the jurisdiction and authority of the WTO, and demand the moratorium on all new free trade negotiations including WTO New Round. Instead, we demand the total reevaluation and reexamination of the latent effects of inequality in the system with the full participation of citizens, social movement organizations, and trade unions.

D> We point out that the government's position on the issue of liberalization of foreign investment and the protection of foreign investments (in other words the 'multi-lateral agreement on investment) solely stands for the interests of national and international corporations and has no consideration for the livelihood and rights of the majority of the people of Korea. It stands on the wrong premise that 'the introduction of foreign capital is the only to economic growth.'

According to the government's proposal on the 'trade and investment issue' the government's position is as follows; * This negotiation's purpose must be to conclude the multilateral agreement on investment within the WTO system, * With the exception of short-term capital investment, the negotiations must focus on foreign direct investment(FDI) * Solution of conflicts must be in accordance with the WTO's process. We realize that this proposal suggests in its contents a much lower degree of liberalization than the MAI talks at the OECD negotiations. However, in reality, not only is it very difficult to discern between foreign direct investment(FDI) and short-term speculative capital, but we must question wether 'investment' by foreign investors is truly beneficial to us. After the IMF crisis, foreign investors now make up more than 20% of the national stock market, and it is tough to believe that they are in it for the long run. The fact that analysis by the stock exchange shows a decrease in the average holding period for foreign investors (from 22.3 months in 96 to 9.3 months in 99) supports this statement. The stock exchange analysis also states that in August transactions occurred at 3 or 4 day intervals. Foreign investors have sold over 2 billion dollars worth of stocks this year. This analysis shows that the Korean stock market is currently a 'casino' to foreign investors. Secondly, Korea is in the process of talks with the U.S. for a bilateral investment treaty, and because of this, even though the degree of liberalization within the WTO negotiations may be lower, Korea must protect foreign investors as the bilateral U.S.-Korea investment treaty standards. Currently, the U.S.-Korea BIT states that investment includes short-term speculative capital, and that investors have the right to sue countries. Therefore, it is our belief that the WTO negotiations and the BITs would both result in the furthering of the rights of foreign investors, and thereby seriously infringe upon the basic democratic rights of the people of Korea. We demand a stop of any negotiation for concluding investment treaties including BIT and MAI.

KoPa is.......

This is "Korean People's Action against Investment Treaties and the WTO New Round"(KoPA). KoPA was launched on Sep. 15, 1999. It is composed of more than 25 social, labor and citizen's movement organizations, such as Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU), People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy(PSPD), Green Korea, Korea Federation of Environmental Movements(KFEM), Seoul Women's Trade Union(SWTU), SARANGBANG for Human Rights, Solidarity Committee for Strengthening Public Health Care, Korean Professors' Committee for Democratization, Korean Lawyers' Group for Democratic Society, People's Solidarity for Social Progress(PSSP), Korean Institute for Labor Studies and Policies(KILSP), Korean House for International Solidarity(KHIS), and Policy and Information Center for International Solidarity(PICIS).

We have campaigned against neo-liberalism and especially against the IMF, Investment Treaties, and the WTO. We have also held a few of workshops and public discussion meetings on the WTO New Round and Bilateral/Multilateral Investment Treaties, and published some books for the education of activists and citizens.