|
March 31, 2007
|
|
| As the trade talks ticked down to the last minute, lawmakers waited to get their hands on the deal. The leadership of both the Uri Party and the opposition Grand National Party reiterated their support for the free trade pact, although a small multiparty group of legislators continue to reject the deal. While demonstrations against a trade pact with the United States were held nationwide again yesterday, they have failed to gain the momentum needed to apply significant pressure on the administration. The National Assembly must vote the deal up or down with no amendments. The same is true for the U.S. Congress. The deal could have a hard time in the U.S. Congress with the Democratic Party controlling both houses and leaders worried about the the U.S. trade deficit with Korea. “Our position, in principle, is that the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement is necessary,” said Jeon Jae-hee, the Grand National Party’s chief policymaker. “But the rice market must remain closed.” Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, the GNP’s presidential hopefuls, both said the pact is necessary, provided the agricultural market is protected. “I hope the negotiators will do their best to secure a good outcome and to ease the concerns of the people,” Uri Chairman Chung Sye-kyun told party leaders yesterday. But it is not all clear sailing. Representative Kim Geun-tae, a former Uri chairman, has been on a hunger strike to protest the deal. He released a letter to Mr. Roh, asking that the talks be halted. Uri defector Representative Chun Jung-bae, said, “Concluding a deal without national consensus is an act that can only take place under a dictatorship.” A group of 48 lawmakers from different parties have formed a coalition to oppose a deal. The rest of the 296-member assembly seems likely to pass a deal. By Ser Myo-ja Staff Writer [myoja@joongang.co.kr] |
|
