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Four years after the historic signing of the Korea–United States Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), the Korean National Assembly and the United States Congress are finally completing legislation that will allow the FTA to enter into force by 2012. The delay has been costly; both sides have foregone substantial benefits that would have already been accrued from early adoption of the reforms mandated in the agreement. Despite the lost opportunities in the four years since the trade pact was signed, however, the economic value of the deal remains substantial, in both economic and political terms. This is why President Lee Myung-bak and President Barack Obama worked hard to negotiate a supplemental agreement in December 2010 that should help overcome the major political obstacles to ratification.
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