Getting Democratic Legitimacy for the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement

Since Korea and the United State (U.S.) announced the launch of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations in 2006, non-govern mental organizations (NGOs) in Korea has furiously opposed the Korea-U.S. FTA (KORUS). While the Korean government says that KORUS would be a positive factor for the Korean economy in the 21st century, NGOs rigorously insist that the FTA would destroy Korean people's lives in all areas.Although the Korean government believes that KORUS has no problem because it has strong economic legitimacy, a survey shows that almost 36% Korean people are opposed to the congressional ratification of KORUS. Nationwide anti-KORUS movement (including violent protests, for instance, attack and burning seven government buildings) in Korea well show that economic legitimacy can not guarantee democratic legitimacy for KORUS that is essential for the congressional ratification of it. In this article I argue that the congressional ratification of the Korea-United States (KORUS) FTA without occurring serious social conflicts needs three legitimacies: constitutional legitimacy; economic legitimacy; and democratic legitimacy. It should be note that even if NGOs' arguments against KORUS are unreasonable, they could get wide support from the public. The Korean government should recognize that a traditional authoritative attitude just stir up furious anti-government movement and make the situation worse. For the congressional ratification of KORUS without serious social conflict, the Korean government needs to get more democratic legitimacy through talking and persuasion with NOGs