Ruling bloc aims to pass contentious free trade deal with US next month
Yonhap News, Seoul
Ruling bloc aims to pass contentious free trade deal with US next month
7 July 2011
SEOUL (Yonhap) — The South Korean government and the ruling party are moving to ratify a controversial free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States next month, party officials said on Thursday, a move that is expected to trigger backlash from opposition parties.
The deal, signed in 2007 and supplemented last December, has been awaiting approval from legislatures of the two countries. South Korean opposition parties have been calling to renegotiate the deal that they said allowed too much compromise at the cost of local carmakers and farmers.
"(We) have reached a consensus to pass the FTA ratification bill in the National Assembly’s extra session during August," Hwang Woo-yea, the Grand National Party’s floor leader, told Yonhap News Agency over the phone.
Newly elected party leader Hong Joon-pyo also said the bill’s passage is unquestionable, adding "It will be cowardly if the party fails to pass the bill during the August session."
The ruling party’s quickening pace to pass the long-pending legislation came as the U.S. Congress looks set to begin later this week a full-scale review of bills on major trade pacts with several countries, including South Korea, for possible ratification.
Local ratification efforts, however, are likely to set off severe resistance from opposition parties.
"The bill should go through sufficient discussion in a consultative body consisting of the government and the ruling and opposition parties and be subject to renegotiation. That will be right for national interest," Kim Jin-pyo, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, said.
