KOREAN TRADE FLAP: Sen. Max Baucus (D., Mont.) said in a speech Thursday that a free-trade pact with South Korea was in jeopardy. He cited South Korea’s insistence on giving duty-free benefits to apparel, footwear and cosmetics products made in an industrial park in North Korea, a nation the U.S. has cited as a nuclear threat. The U.S. and South Korea just completed the first round of negotiations for a bilateral FTA and cited a number of contentious issues, including market access for U.S. agricultural and auto exports. A South Korean conglomerate runs the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea. Seoul has touted the industrial park as a test project that could help the capitalist and communist governments work toward reunification. Many members of Congress oppose commercial ties with North Korea.
