President Obama’s push to move a long-stalled free-trade agreement with South Korea has breathed new life into a lobbying campaign by both Korea and the business community.
Since June, when Obama said he wanted to see progress on a trade deal projected to boost exports to Korea, the embassy of the Republic of Korea has more than doubled the monthly lobbying fee it is paying to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, increasing it from $20,000 to $50,000. The embassy and Korea’s lobbyists are working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups on an unusual grassroots push that has taken the Korean ambassador to places far outside the Beltway — such as Detroit, Seattle and Peoria, Ill. — to sell the agreement’s potential benefits to a public battered by the lagging economy.
