Anchor: Wednesday will mark the fifth anniversary of the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement(FTA). The pact has been a controversial issue for both countries. Fierce rallies opposing the agreement were held in South Korea when the FTA was being negotiated. Now, the U.S. is claiming that the FTA is unfair.
But as our Kim In-kyung reports, the agreement has benefited both sides during the past five years.
 
Report: Although international trade volume has fallen in recent years due to the global recession, trade between South Korea and the U.S. has expanded.
 
According to the Trade Ministry and the Korea International Trade Association on Monday, global trade fell at an average of two percent annually for the past five years. South Korea's total trade fell three-point-five percent during that time. However, trade between South Korea and the U.S. rose one-point-seven percent.
 
Thanks to the increase in bilateral trade, South Korea's share in the U.S. import market rose from two-point-six percent to three-point-two percent while the U.S. share in South Korea's import market jumped from eight-point-five percent to ten-point-six percent.
 
But there is a difference in how the FTA is perceived by the two countries. Before the effectuation of the agreement, opposition to the pact was harsher in South Korea. Now, Washington is calling the FTA unfair.
 
The main reason that the Trump administration has been criticizing the South Korea-U.S. FTA is the trade balance, which shows the difference in the values of exports and imports of a country.
 
South Korea's trade balance versus the U.S. advanced from a surplus of eleven-point-six billion dollars in 2011 before the FTA to a surplus of 23-point-three billion dollars last year. During the same period, Washington estimates that the U.S. trade deficit against South Korea expanded from 13-point-two billion dollars to 27-point-six billion dollars.
 
A closer look, however, reveals that the deficit was led by items not covered by the FTA. Last year, the U.S. International Trade Commission assessed that the U.S. trade deficit against South Korea would have been 44 billion dollars as of 2015 if the FTA hadn't been implemented.
Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News.