South Korea’s Roh Touts Stronger Trade Relations

While assuring local business and civic leaders that he wants improved trade relations with the United States, South Korean President Roh Tae Woo on Thursday gently chided the United States, and Los Angeles, for not taking full advantage of the South Korean markets that are open.

After a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, a nonpartisan group that regularly holds meetings with international political figures, Roh fielded questions about loosening Korean import restrictions for American goods, particularly California produce, and acknowledged that the opening of Korean agricultural markets may be slow.

Roh explained to the 400 people attending the meeting that his nation’s well-noted industrial progress tends to overshadow its agriculture sector, which has not grown as quickly.

Although farmers make up 20% of the 42 million people in South Korea, Roh said, the country’s mostly single-family farms still need to be protected from import competition.

He then cited beef trade as one area in which America “has not been aggressive” enough.

Roh said 85% of the beef sold in his country is imported, but most of that comes from Australian cattle ranches.

In a light-hearted reference, Roh offered a consolatory quip about eating California oranges every morning when he is at home.

Thursday’s council session came at the tail end of Roh’s four-day good-will tour of the United States that also included a speech Wednesday in Washington before a joint session of Congress. He left the country shortly before noon.

In contrast to Wednesday, when Roh was met by dozens of protesters when he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport and at his hotel, Thursday’s session was congenial inside and out.

Roh spent much of the time during the meeting praising the people in attendance, including City Council President John Ferraro, Supervisor Kenneth Hahn and business and civic leaders.

He also addressed questions on the dialogue with Communist North Korea over reunification of the Korean peninsula and on relations between South Korea and China. Roh said contact between the two countries is limited to “cultural and human exchanges.”