U.S.-South Korea talks put Seattle in spotlight

[flamingyouth]

Mi-Sook Lee of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions addresses a news conference Tuesday at the Seattle Labor Temple. Labor groups fear a trade deal that would weaken worker protections.

Talks begin today in Seattle on a trade deal with South Korea, the first such high-level meetings here since protesters and police created a war zone during World Trade Organization talks in 1999.

The stakes are high. A South Korea-U.S. agreement would be the biggest trade accord since the U.S., Mexico and Canada launched the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994.

The United States has sent more than 100 people to the talks, one of the largest such delegations to venture outside the nation's capital. South Korea has sent twice that number.

The goal is a deal patterned on NAFTA and other such accords that covers factory goods, services and farm products, as well as such broader issues as rules for competition and government purchasing.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003245354_koreatrade06.html