The year 2007 displayed remarkable progress in Korea-U.S. economic relations on many different levels. At the global level, our two countries have worked closely together to meet international challenges. For example, in the First Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change held in Washington, D.C., in September 2007, Korea expressed its strong commitment to fully cooperate with the United States in addressing global climate change.

At the regional level, the two countries promoted a common economic agenda, including business mobility, anticorruption, and intellectual property rights in the context of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Korea and the United States also have worked in close collaboration toward their long-term goal of launching a free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific.

Most important, the bilateral economic relationship between Korea and the United States entered a new era with the successful signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) on 30 June 2007. This FTA was signed before the expiration of Trade Promotion Authority, which gives the president of the United States exclusive power to negotiate agreements on which the Congress can only vote up or down without amendment.

The Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement currently being considered for ratification in both the U.S. Congress and the Korean National Assembly will provide enormous economic opportunities to both countries by expanding bilateral trade.