38 lawmakers opposed to FTA with US
The Korea Times, Seoul
38 Lawmakers Opposed to FTA With US
By Lee Jin-woo, Staff Reporter
16 March 2007
Thirty-eight lawmakers from five different political parties gathered Friday at the National Assembly to urge the government to scrap its negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States.
After a month-long hibernation, Rep. Kim Geun-tae, former chairman of the pro-government Uri Party, also resumed his political activity with a pledge to oppose the signing of the FTA.
The Korea-U.S. FTA has been pushed ahead in a hasty manner due to the Bush administration's trade promotion authority,'' the lawmakers said in a statement.The South Korean government should make much more efforts to prepare the very crucial agreement from a long-term perspective.’’
Those who took part in the move included Reps. Kim Tae-hong of the Uri Party and Kwon Oh-eul of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) as well as Roh Hoe-chan of the progressive Democratic Labor Party (DLP).
The former Uri chairman said he would not sit idle when the two countries push ahead with the FTA to be signed this month.
Over my dead body. The FTA must not be signed,'' Kim said.Both the public and the Assembly don’t know much about what has exactly been agreed to during the talks. The Korea-U.S. FTA should be handed over to the next president.’’
Rep. Shin Ki-nam, also of the Uri Party, called for a national referendum before the Assembly endorses the FTA deal.
The two sides have been trying to conclude the FTA talks this month since U.S. negotiators have to submit a free trade deal to Congress by April 2 for a 90-day review before President George W. Bush’s fast-track trade promotion authority expires on July 1.
Seoul and Washington reached an agreement on more than half of the 19 negotiation sectors in the just-ended eighth round of talks in Seoul.
Differences on the issues of automobiles, beef and agricultural products are to be dealt with in high-level talks later this month.
