Free Trade Between Korea and the United States?: 62 (Policy Analyses in International Economics) - Softcover

Free trade agreements (FTAs) are proliferating in the Asia-Pacific region. For the first time, Korea is pursuing such accords as part of a strategy to restructure its economy and sustain the recovery from its 1997-98 economic crisis. Should it open talks with its largest trading partner, the United States? This study examines the economic and political benefits and challenges of pursuing bilateral FTA negotiations, the impact of a prospective pact on other trading partners, on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, and on the multilateral trading system.

Inbom Choi, former visiting fellow, is the chief economist at the Federation of Korean Industries. Previously, he was assistant secretary to the president for economic affairs and director of international economic policy in the Office of the President of Korea (1995-96). He has been a research fellow at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy since 1990. He has also been a consultant to the World Bank and a visiting professor at Georgetown University.

Jeffrey J. Schott joined the Peterson Institute for International Economics in 1983 and is a senior fellow working on international trade policy and economic sanctions. During his tenure at the Institute, Schott was also a visiting lecturer at Princeton University (1994) and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University (1986-88). He was a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1982-83) and an official of the US Treasury Department (1974-82) in international trade and energy policy. During the Tokyo Round of multilateral trade negotiations, he was a member of the US delegation that negotiated the GATT Subsidies Code. Since January 2003, he has been a member of the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee of the US government. He is also a member of the State Department's Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy.