US Ports Fiasco Effects on Korean Business

Many of you have probably heard about the US port management controversy involving a Dubai based Arab owned company. I find it interesting that the same people like Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer who are complaining about this business deal are the same people that complain about police using racial profiling yet are willing to use racial profiling when it comes to business deals, but that is whole different rant. This fiasco has now wisely been referred to a 45 day security review where I expect it will get approved anyway.

This controversy does lend to some interesting thoughts about if foreign companies should managing US ports at all? Keep in mind that they do not provide security, the US does that they just manage the containers and boats coming in and out.

According to the Asiapundit, the decision on this port deal may have consequences that reach back all the way to Korea:

I haven’t noticed that many West Coast lawmakers taking a stand on the ports controversy. Of course, the ports in question are on the East Coast, but I suspect that most of the westerners are praying that the whole controversy blows over before Congress does something really stupid, such as passing some law to ban foreign operations of port terminals. That would cause chaos on the West Coast.

Take for example, the Port of Seattle. Of the three terminals, one is leased to an American stevedoring firm MSS America, one to Hanshin, the South Korean shipping line, and the other to the American President Lines (now APL) which, despite it venerable patriotic name, is actually owned by Singapore.

Port management is an international business that is dominated by foreign interests. That’s not hard to understand since there are obviously close synergies between ships and terminals.

If the Dubai port deal is denied then using that logic that would that maen that the Korean company managing a Seattle port should also lose their contract as well since South Korea has close relations to North Korea and North Korea is a known terrorist state with weapons of mass destruction?