KorUS FTA 7th Round

Down with the Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement
(KorUS FTA)

Down with Fast Track and all Free Trade Deals

Protect Workers, Farmers, the Environment and Peoples’ Right to Sovereignty and Democracy

The 7th and Final Round of KorUS FTA Negotiations is almost upon us!!

JOIN US FOR A WEEK OF PROTEST

When: Sunday, Feb. 11 – 14, 2007 (to coincide with the talks)
Where: Washington, DC and Virginia

PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY. For more info call (718) 335-0419 or email yul-san@nodutdol.org

The U.S. and South Korean governments began FTA negotiations in June, 2006. Now they are in a race to finish at the expense of democratic process and the lives of millions.

Join peasant, labor, and community leaders from South Korea to protest neoliberal globalization.

WHAT: During the 7th and final week of negotiations, delegations of U.S. and Korean protesters will join forces to oppose the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement. The week will include rallies, vigils, marches, direct actions and solidarity events. Give us a call NOW to find out how you can get involved and look out for updates with specific times and places in the coming weeks (kawanlist.blogspot.com).

WHO: This week of protest is sponsored by;
The Korean Alliance Against Korea-US FTA (KoA), a South Korean coalition of 280 organizations
AND
Korean Americans Against War and Neoliberalism (KAWAN), a U.S. coalition of progressive U.S.-based Korean organizations endorsed by close to 100 immigrant, people of color, LGBT, farmers’, workers’, women’s, national liberation, anti-war and anti-globalization groups from around the country.

WHY: Free trade policies such as this have had devastating effects on the lives of Americans as well as workers in the partner countries. Politicians and big corporations claim Free Trade Agreements will encourage foreign direct investment, create jobs and jump-start economies, but in fact they only support elite classes and the governments they back. NAFTA sent formerly high paying manufacturing jobs to Mexico, forced Mexican subsistence farmers to the cities, drove wages and working conditions, leading many to risk their lives immigrating to the U.S. South Koreans and U.S. farmers and workers will suffer the same results it the KorUS FTA passes.

KoA and KAWAN’s joint protests began during the first round of talks in Washington, DC, June 2006. In July we followed the negotiators to the second round in Seoul, where over a hundred thousand people protested in the streets. The struggle then went to Seattle for the 3rd round, then Jae Ju Island at the southern tip of Korea and then a ski resort in Montana. This week protesters are taking the streets in Seoul to protest the talks for the 6th time. The South Korean and US governments have announced that the 7th will be the final round. It’s time to go all out. So get ready.

Resources
· KoA’s English website
· KAWAN's blog
· Bilateral.org, a progressive website about bilateral trade and investment agreements
· News article on protests in Seattle in September