Cabinet submits corrected U.S. FTA bill to parliament

The government approved an updated ratification bill for the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement after fixing translation errors and submitted it to the National Assembly to seek parliamentary approval.

The agreement had been retracted in April over multiple translation errors in the Korean version.

Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik urged the early parliamentary approval of the deal.

“The KORUS FTA is an inevitable choice for our country’s economic growth and reform, and is a win-win strategy designed to boost cooperative ties between the two countries,” Kim said at the Cabinet meeting that approved the new ratification bill.

The newly endorsed bill corrected a total of 296 errors, including supplementary terms reached in December detailing U.S. demands that Korea soften its automotive safety and environment standards, the government said.

The bill is facing fierce resistance from the opposition party which claims that the pact would largely favor the U.S. auto industry.

By Cynthia J. Kim (Cynthiak@heraldcorp.com)