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Politicians were split on Monday over the conclusion of a Korea-U.S. free trade agreement on the day. The opposition Grand National Party and the ruling Uri Party were mostly in favor, though they said they would evaluate the free trade agreement in a ¡°prudent review." Many welcomed the agreement as a crucial decision in a global age, but the issue is likely to loom large in the run-up to presidential elections in December.
"We believe the negotiations were conducted in a way for the two countries to cooperate with each other and co-exist as partners in the globalization era," GNP spokesman Yoo Ki-june said. "We will closely examine if specific content of the agreement will be conducive to our national interests and if measures are available to deal with the fields that will be adversely affected." Uri Party spokesman Lee Ki-soo called for a vetting of the contents and negotiations process. "The party will organize an FTA assessment committee and do its best to map out measures for groups who will sustain damage from it,¡± he said.
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Grand National Party presidential hopeful Lee Myung-bak looks at a picture of himself on Monday at an opening ceremony for a journalistic photography exhibition sponsored by the Korea Press Photographers Association (left). Lee¡¯s rival Park Geun-hye, former Grand National Party chairwoman applauds at a lecture meeting she was invited to address by the Korea Restaurant Association.
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Yang Hyung-il, a spokesman for a group of Uri defectors, said they will decide whether to ratify the agreement after assessing it ¡°section by section." But support currents are said to be stronger in the group, leading some to expect that the ruling camp will regroup around approval or rejection of the FTA.
But the former Uri chairman Kim Geun-tae, who staged a weeklong hunger strike against the FTA, warned he will seek a public hearing and a parliamentary grilling of the administration to block the government's ¡°mad dash¡± into the trade deal. Kim said he would form a coalition with political parties and civil organizations to block ratification.
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Former Gyeonggi provincial governor Sohn Hak-kyu and former Uri Party chairman Chung Dong-young hold hands on Monday at an opening ceremony for a journalistic photography exhibition sponsored by the Korea Press Photographers Association (right). Former Uri chairman Kim Geun-tae during a hunger sit-in against the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, on Monday in front of the National Assembly main chamber.
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Rep. Chun Jung-bae, who is still on hunger strike, accused President Roh of ¡°handing Korea¡¯s economic sovereignty to the U.S. on a platter¡± ¡°This act of betrayal of the people, and their livelihood and of democracy will be judged harshly,¡± he said. Some Uri members and some defectors sided with the opposition camp. "We can no longer recognize Roh as president," said Democratic Labor Party leader Moon Sung-hyun. "We¡¯re going to declare the agreement null and stage a civil disobedience campaign." The DLP said it would refer the FTA to a referendum, claiming the deal would result in W6 trillion (US$1=W937) in outflow of national wealth and 160,000 lost jobs.
Democratic Party spokesman Lee Sang-yul said it was ¡°regrettable that the government concluded a hasty deal. In its impatience to reach a pointless accord, the government has succumbed to improper U.S. trade pressure. We may stage a campaign boycotting the agreement." Rep. Kwon Oh-eul of the GNP, too, pledged a campaign opposing ratification along with lawmakers from farming constituencies.
A group of 51 lawmakers opposed to the FTA met on Monday and decided to push FTA hearings by parliamentary grilling committees and a parliamentary inspection of the administration. The group says it represents a multi-party front against the FTA. Over 100 lawmakers, or one third of the 299 representatives, oppose the FTA, it added.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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