In his discussion of the FTA after the luncheon, Ambassador Lee said that he sees Atlanta as the economic center for the Southeast.

The Korean ambassador to the United States chose Atlanta as the starting point for a nationwide tour aimed at “drumming up” support for a potential U.S.-Korea free trade agreement. 

“Atlanta is a very attractive place because Atlanta is a booming city in the southeastern part of the country,” Ambassador Lee Tae Sik told GlobalAtlanta after speaking at a luncheon hosted by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.  “Our Korean community is also rapidly expanding to take advantage of the benefits,” he said.

A variety of business as well as political leaders in Georgia’s capital city have shown significant support for the agreement, which still faces a variety of obstacles in both countries, he said.

Large, internationally focused companies like Delta Air Lines Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. have emerging markets in Korea, and they have expressed interest in creating opportunities to expand their business there, Mr. Lee said.

These big corporations are not the only local ventures standing to benefit from a better trade relationship between the U.S. and Georgia’s 12th largest trading partner.

According to statistics circulated at the luncheon, the United States exported over $382 billion of goods to Korea in 2006, and within three years of the FTA’s implementation, all duties on Georgia’s top exports to Korea—machinery, computers and electronics and chemicals—would be eliminated.

Mr. Lee said the city was his only stop in the South and a great ally in the fight for the FTA.  Atlanta and Georgia have shown enthusiasm he has not seen in the northern part of the country, he said.

One of the main centers of opposition to the agreement is Detroit, where automotive corporations feel threatened by Korean automakers’ increasing entry into the U.S. market.   

Mr. Lee said that their fears are unfounded, and in addition to stops in California and Seattle on his current trip, he plans to visit the Motor City to address the issue.

While the U.S. has a trade deficit of about $8.5 billion with Korea in the automotive sector, that total is miniscule when compared with the $45 billion deficit with Japan and the $25 billion and $23 billion deficit with Canada and the European Union, respectively, he said.

The Korean agreement would also have tariff reductions and relaxed regulations to ensure that automobile trade goes both ways, providing less resistance and more balance for U.S. automakers.

On the political front, the agreement faces an uphill climb in both countries.

“The change in power in Congress since last November has made it somewhat difficult for us to go ahead with this trade agreement,” Mr. Lee said, referring to the reemergence of a Democratic majority in both U.S. legislative bodies in the 2006 elections. 

While there are some members of the Democratic Party who support the FTA, he said, most members of that party have traditionally opposed free trade, presenting one of the most formidable challenges to the FTA.

In Korea, pro-FTA incumbent President Roh Moo-hyun cannot run for another term in office, leaving political support for the FTA as a significant question mark.

Mr. Lee said that he could not comment on any timeline for the proposed agreement but that his trip is “laying the groundwork” in the case that the Bush Administration introduces it to Congress.

If and when that occurs, the House would have 60 session days followed by 30 in the Senate to determine an up or down vote, Hyun Zu (Yonni) Kim, an attorney with Haskill Slaughter Young & Gallion LLC and the director of regional development for the Korea-Southeast U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told GlobalAtlanta.