Rival parties traded barbs again on Monday over the Korea-U.S. free trade pact, which has recently resurfaced as a hot-button issue ahead of the April 11 general elections.

The main opposition Democratic United Party launched a counterattack on the ruling Saenuri Party’s leader Rep. Park Geun-hye, who criticized its moves to reverse the pact on Monday.

In unusually strong terms for Park, who has largely been reticent on sensitive issues to prevent partisan confrontations, she said, “Should the pact be nullified (by the opposition), we would commit a big crime before history.”

“When the DUP was the ruling party, the FTA with the U.S. was pushed for on the grounds of national interests. But as they are now the opposition, they are saying the opposite,” Park said during a meeting with party members.

“We cannot allow them to take power.”

In response, the DUP underscored that the ruling party rammed the bill through parliament last November, and that the balance of interests in the pact ― signed in 2007 and revised in 2010 ― has swung in favor of the United States.

“Chairwoman Park is intentionally distorting the facts or does not know them. The pact signed in 2007 and the revised one are fundamentally different,” DUP floor leader Rep. Kim Jin-pyo said during the party’s policy meeting.

“That stems from her ignorance, which is inappropriate for the ruling camp’s presidential hopeful, and sophistry. The FTA, railroaded by the ruling party, will only expand U.S. economic territory, and we will face a horrible result.”

Last Wednesday, the DUP-led opposition parties sent a letter to the U.S. government in Seoul, in which they threatened to repeal the pact should the U.S. reject their demand for renegotiations over disputed clauses.

Amid the political confrontation over the pact, President Lee Myung-bak said on Monday that such a letter threatening to scrap a bilateral pact can seriously degrade a country’s dignity.

“Before the pact goes into effect, there are arguments about scrapping the pact. In this democratic era, not the past dictatorial period, sending such a letter to a foreign embassy is something that can seriously downgrade the national prestige,” Lee was quoted by his spokesman as saying during a Cabinet meeting.

“This pact is related to the nation as a whole, not something that can be dealt with in connection with political or private interests.”

Experts have expressed concern that the move to reverse it could undermine Korea’s international credibility and hurt the long-standing ties with Washington. The pact is scheduled to take effect later this month or early next month.

The major bone of contention is the Investor-State Disputes settlement mechanism. The ISD system allows U.S. investors to seek settlements on disputes with Korea in the courts of a third country.

The opposition argues this would work mostly in favor of the U.S. with its influence over the international judicial system.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)