Embassy Row

Counting on Korea

The U.S. ambassador to South Korea is worried that congressional opposition could kill the biggest American trade deal since NAFTA, but hopes a White House visit next month by South Korea’s new president will showcase the need for lawmakers in Washington to approve the agreement.

Ambassador Alexander Vershbow yesterday said the trip by President Lee Myung-bak “will provide a great opportunity, not just to introduce America to a new Korean president who wants to strengthen the U.S.-Korea alliance, but also to reacquaint Americans with South Korea and remind them why our partnership is so important to America’s strategic interests.”

The Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (Korus) is the type of deal that opponents of other trade deals should like, Mr. Vershbow said in a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

“The debate in the U.S. has thus far been dominated by opponents of the agreement and of free trade in general,” he said.

Mr. Vershbow told the business executives that the deal faces “serious challenges” in the House and Senate, where opposition is strongest among pro-union Democrats and some farm-state Republicans angered about restrictions on the import of U.S. beef.

“But I think when skeptics look carefully at Korus, they’ll see that this is exactly the kind of trade deal they want America to sign — a comprehensive, high-standards agreement with an advanced economy that has strong labor and environmental protections,” he said.

The deal could add $20 billion in annual trade to the current level of $78 billion. Mr. Vershbow said the agreement is the largest trade deal for South Korea and the biggest for the United States since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico was implemented in 1994.

Mr. Vershbow urged the South Korean government to lift its remaining restrictions on U.S. beef after the discovery of a case of mad cow disease in 2003. South Korea imports only boneless U.S. beef from cattle younger than 30 months.

“There is no justification for keeping safe U.S. beef out of the Korean market any longer, and we simply won’t be able to build the necessary congressional support for [free-trade agreement] ratification without resolving this issue,” he said.

The ambassador also noted that North Korea could be removed from the U.S. terrorist blacklist if it fully complies with its pledge to “present a complete and correct declaration of all its nuclear programs.”

Women of courage

One defied the brutal Taliban, another risked her life fighting the sexual slave trade.

Others campaigned for tolerance, equal rights, the rule of law and peace.

Together, all are women who displayed selfless acts of courage and were honored yesterday with awards from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Paula J. Dobriansky, undersecretary of state for democracy and global affairs.

The winners of the International Women of Courage Awards for 2008 are:

• Cynthia Bendlin of Paraguay, who fights the trafficking of women in an area bordered by Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

• Virisila Buadromo of Fiji, who defied the military government to promote equal rights for women.

• Dr. Eaman al-Gobory, an Iraqi physician who finds foreign medical help for children who need care unavailable in her country.

• Farhiyo Farah Ibrahim of Somalia, a refugee in Kenya who works to prevent the abuse of women from practices such as genital mutilation.

• Valdete Idrizi of Kosovo, an ethnic Albanian who promotes reconciliation with Serbs.

• Begum Jan of Pakistan, who chairs the Tribal Women Welfare Association.

• Nibal Thawabteh of the Palestinian Authority, a newspaper editor who denounces honor killings, polygamy and poverty.

• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297, fax 202/832-7278 or e-mail jmorrison@ washingtontimes.com.