Assembly committee passes KORUS FTA

A parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and trade yesterday passed a motion to ratify the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement despite vehement objections from opposition lawmakers.

Opposition lawmakers remain violently opposed to the free trade pact, even though it was they that negotiated the deal.

Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, floor leader of the ruling Grand National Party, said that his party plans to put the motion to a vote at the National Assembly`s plenary session in June after a planned summit between the leaders of the two countries.

The motion is likely to pass the vote easily given the number of Assembly seats the ruling party holds. The GNP controls 170 seats in the 299-member legislature.

Opposition parties yesterday called the passage of the motion at the committee invalid, citing "procedural problems," as they were not allowed to have a full discussion and the committee chairman "unilaterally" declared its passage without a vote.

Later in the day, Rep. Park Jin of the GNP, who chairs the committee, reaffirmed the passage after GNP lawmakers voted for the motion in the absence of opposition members.

The trade pact, signed in June 2007, was brought up for review at the committee in December by GNP lawmakers, creating violent clashes with opposition party members.

Lawmakers from the Democratic Party and the Democratic Labor Party have argued that the ratification of the motion should come only after sufficient measures are drafted to safeguard those who could face disadvantages due to cheaper U.S. imports.

The GNP has contended that the prompt ratification of the trade pact is crucial for the country`s export-reliant economy at a time of economic slowdown.

Ratification here earlier than of the U.S. Congress could help fend off a possible demand for renegotiation from Washington, the GNP argues.

During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama called the Korea-U.S. FTA "badly flawed," demanding measures to address an imbalance in auto trade.

But at a recent meeting earlier this month before the G20 summit in London, both presidents agreed to move forward the long-delayed ratification of the trade accord.

Earlier yesterday, 44 opposition lawmakers held a press conference in front of the trade committee chamber, claiming that the motion must not be "hastily" passed through the committee.

"The discussion on the trade accord must proceed only after reevaluation of the possible damage to be brought to domestic industries, including agricultural and medical industries, is done, and countermeasures are drawn up," they argued.

By Song Sang-ho

(sshluck@heraldm.com)