GNP occupies National Assembly for FTA vote

Opposition parties berate the unilateral move, vowing to take strong action


Ruling Grand National Party lawmakers on Tuesday occupied the main chamber of the National Assembly, setting the stage for a floor vote on the contentious Korea-U.S. free trade pact.

All GNP members attended the plenary session with opposition party lawmakers upbraiding them for moving to railroad the pact, part of which they argue should be renegotiated to protect national interests.

The GNP holds 169 seats out of a total of 295. In order to pass the motion, a minimum of 148 must attend the plenary session.

Earlier in the day, GNP leader Rep. Hong Joon-pyo asked Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae to invoke his authority to set up a full-house vote without going through committee-level deliberation procedures.

The bill was still pending at the parliamentary trade committee Tuesday as opposition parties, led by the main opposition Democratic Party, had blocked committee deliberation sessions. The U.S. ratified its side of the deal during a visit to Washington D.C. by President Lee Myung-bak last month.

Park, a former GNP chairman, directed the parliamentary security to maintain order at the legislature as physical clashes between the ruling and opposition parties were expected. He had indicated that he would call a direct vote on the pact should the delay continue as a result of partisan disputes.

As the majority party moved to ratify the motion, its liberal rival DP, the leftwing Democratic Labor Party and other opposition parties berated it for moving to ram through the motion.

“We will seek measures against the GNP move. We cannot forgive such unilateral action,” DP leader Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu told reporters.

The DP has demanded a set of controversial clauses on investor-state disputes settlement mechanism, at the very least, should be removed from the FTA agreement.

The ISD system allows U.S. investors to seek settlements on disputes with the Korean government in the courts of a third country. The DP argues that this would work mostly in favor of the U.S. as a super power.

The Korea-U.S. FTA was signed in 2007 under the previous liberal administration of President Roh Moo-hyun. The current Lee administration led a renegotiation of the deal last year at the request of the U.S.

The DP and other liberal groups claim that the balance of interest swung in favor of the U.S. during the renegotiation.

The party had rejected an offer by President Lee Myung-bak to seek renegotiation of the ISD clauses once the parliament ratifies the deal. It instead demanded Lee to corroborate his verbal promise with a written agreement between two governments.

The DP reiterated its opposition to the pact, saying that the handling of the pact should be put off until after a new Assembly opens next May.

“Should the GNP seek to railroad the bill thorough the parliament by force, it would face consequences from the history and the public,” DP leader Rep. Sohn said in a KBS radio speech.

Some critics claimed that the DP stuck to its opposition to the FTA pact as it seeks to ally with left-wing parties to boost their chances in next year’s parliamentary and presidential elections.

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