It has been a couple months since the Canadian and Korean governments announced the signing of Korea-Canada FTA (“KCFTA”). Later in March, the Canadian government published “Final Agreement Summary.” In the absence of an actual text, or even a draft text, currently, this Summary is the best available information that exists regarding […]
Less than a month after the announcement of completion of Korea-Canada, Korea on April 8, 2014, announced a formal signage of Korea-Australia FTA (“KAFTA”). The full text of the agreement can be found at Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website. What are the implications of this deal, which was […]
Hi all in this new world, where Korea and Canada are “free trade” partners. I have already seen an article on this agreement in this blog, so I won’t repeat it. That said, I would like to share some further details reported by Korean media reports: Canadian Concession […]
Further to my earlier post notifying the release of the semi-final text of the Korea-Australia FTA (“KAFTA”), I would like to share one interesting finding I made so far. It is simply summarized in this article by Caberra Times: “…certain tariffs on agricultural goods are being wound back […]
As reported earlier, Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement, or “KAFTA,” was agreed “in principle” in December of last year. As explained, this was a shockingly expedient act, merely 2 months after the Bali APEC, in which Korea officially set out to reach bilateral trade pacts with individual members of […]
Happy lunar new year to everyone! 2014, the year of horse has just begun with a “bang” – or more like smoke in the air that just might mean that there will be some sort and form of “bang-ing” some time soon. Public report is that the Ministry […]
First of all, sorry that I missed blogging past two months. My excuse is work – it’s not a good one, I admit. On that note, I will finish my analysis of the Lone Star case, but it will wait. In any case, the big news over the […]
Lone Star’s substantive allegations are comprised of 3 claims that are familiar to NAFTA countries and 2 that are more unique to the Korea-Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union Bilateral Investment Treaty (“Korea-Belgium BIT”). The first of the familiar-type claims is the claim under Article 2.2, which are obligations of fair […]
In this part of the discussion regarding Korea’s investor-state dispute settlement system, I would like to introduce you – a potential foreign investor – a number of protections that are (and may become) available through the Lone Star case study. As discussed in my previous blogs, Lone Star’s […]
At this point, I only have the Lone Star’s version of the story as reported in its Notice of Intent to Arbitrate (“NOI”) submitted In May 2012, which is found at here . In this blog, I will summarize the key facts and allegations made available by the […]
I apologize first and foremost for not writing during the past several weeks. There was a family vacation. Then there were some deadlines for work. Last, but not least, I am running out of interesting topics to write. That said, I still have a topic in my pocket […]
To be clear, I have been simple about Korea-Canada trade relationships. This is not to say that I have been incorrect. But knowing the crowd to whom I am speaking and the purpose of this blog, it would be fair to say that positive aspects of the relationship has been […]
All relationships will eventually face difficulties sooner or later. Even the ones that looks flawless outside inevitably suffers from conflicts – it may simply that they have ways to identify and address the difficulty internally. For example, the fact that I don’t protest my wife’s decisions simply indicates […]
Today, Korean Trade Minister Bark Taeho and candidates from Indonesia and New Zealand have been eliminated from the race for the WTO’s Director General office (see here). After the first round of election, Mr. Bark was among the seven remaining candidates running for the DG office in WTO. The odds […]
Living in Ottawa, the nation’s capital, it is hard to miss the government. Most of my neighbours in Orleans – suburb located in the east of Ottawa and popular among the French Canadians – get into their cars at 7:30 in the morning for a commute and will […]
Over the past week, there has a number of rumours on Korea-Canada FTA. Knowing the sensitivity of this issue, in particular to the Korean Embassy in Ottawa, I will limit myself to introducing the following reports: 1. March 25, 2013: Globe and Mail reports the statement by Canada’s […]
When all the high-level talks are done, how are you and I affected by Korea-Canada economic relationship? I once carried soju into Canada and had to pay duties and taxes on them. But beware, these duties and taxes could really get you if you bring in dangerous substances, […]
In my previous blog, I offered you a reason why I felt Korea-Canada trade relationship is worth a detailed study, and it is because I wanted to show you the partnership at work in the real-world. That said, let us not forget that there is another Korea, Democratic People’s […]
For the past few months, I have talked about Korea and its presence in the world-stage through the prism of Korea’s participation in various international organizations. The point that I wanted to make though – recognizing the high likelihood that the point was lost in my many grammatically […]
Things are bound to change in a decade and half. Since I landed in Vancouver in 1997, Europe create d a common currency, Spain earned its first World Cup, and too many wars have started and ended. In 1997, Korea was unknown to many in the Western world, […]
