Did Any Of You Know S. Korea Has A Manufacturing Industrial Complex In N. Korea?

[Mad Scientist]

I did a little research about it after hearing Bernie Sanders (who according to another USMB poster, is an idiot) talk about in it a video about the Free Trade Agreement with Korea. I couldn't believe it at first but apparently it's been there for 7 years!:
CRS — Imports from North Korea: Existing Rules, Implications of the KORUS FTA, and the Kaesong Industrial Complex « Full Text Reports…

Some observers, particularly many opposed to the agreement, have argued that the KORUS FTA could increase imports from North Korea if South Korean firms re-export items made in the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), a seven-year-old industrial park located in North Korea, where more than 100 South Korean manufacturers employ over 45,000 North Korean workers.

Obama signed it. He HAD to know what's in it right?

Why is our gov't supporting slave labor in N. Korea with trade deals?

What's more; Why the f*ck do we have ANY troops in Korea if the South has been cooperating with the North like that?

Is the DMZ just a giant "head fake"? Please tell me I'm just misunderstanding all this.

 

[uscitizen]

Trade is the way to peace.

 

[Mr Natural]

Cheap labor trumps political differences everytime.

 

[zzzz]

Most free trade agreements require exported manufactured products to include 51% of their materials from the country of origin. However, the KORUS FTA requires only 35% native materials. South Korea imports manufacturing materials from China. That means a product that is technically made in South Korea could consist of 65% Chinese manufactured goods. In essence, we would be eliminating tariffs for South Korean products (and thereby increasing our already enormous trade deficit) while South Korea subsidizes the supply chain of multi-national corporations in China.

Why KORUS FTA is Awful for America - 21st Century Labor Union - IAMAW

Also, the language purporting to govern the so-called Kaesong Industrial Complex is intentionally vague. Goods entirely produced in sweatshops north of the DMZ may end up being given the same treatment as South Korean goods under the agreement.
The 40,000 workers at Kaesong are not paid by their South Korean employers. The money goes to the North Korean government. Along with several millions in fees, these payments provide hard currency for the North Korean government to maintain its grip on power and pursue nuclear proliferation.

KORUS FTA

 

[Mad Scientist]

Trade is the way to peace.

Umm, no. Victory in War brings Peace. Apparently Trade Agreements encourage Slave Labor.
I know some of you would say that there is Slave Labor in China too and you would probably be right. But at the same time we're not stationing thousands of troops in "South China" to defend against the "North Chinese" and China, while not entirely free isn't exactly N. Korea either.

I can only think, the only way I can make sense of it and wrap my brain around it is to just acknowledge that this is the work of the International Banking Consortium.

 

[whitehall]

Bill Klinton tried to take a cheap legacy shot by assuming the insane NK leadership would suddenly become civilized when he gave them nuclear technology which turned out to be the resources they needed to complete a nuclear weapon. You can bet your ass-ets that Barry Hussein is equally dumb.