By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter

Opposition parties reacted negatively Monday to Prime Minister Han Seung-soo's last-minute appeal for the ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement.

The main opposition United Democratic Party refused to join the extra Assembly session, which was convened by the governing Grand National Party, by reaffirming that it will not talk about ratification without first setting up countermeasures for expected damages to domestic industries.

The controversy is likely to worsen as Seoul is expected to announce new quarantine and sanitary guidelines for U.S. beef imports, which will resume as early as next week, following the return of a special delegation to the United States after an 11-day visit.

``We did our best for the mission, and didn't find any serious problem there," Sohn Chan-joon, livestock product safety & inspection director of the National Veterinary Research & Quarantine Service and head of the delegation, said at Incheon International Airport.

The nine-person delegation inspected 31 abattoirs and meat packing factories in 10 states during their stay.

Earlier in the day, Han said the FTA is "the government's No.1 priority" in a meeting with ministers.

His remark came after leading Democrat candidate Barack Obama told President Bush not to hasten the ratification, indicating the ``dead on arrival'' principle if the ratification bill is submitted to the Democrat-controlled Congress.

``We need to have the National Assembly ratify the pact as soon as possible so as to let the United States complete its end of the bargain," Han said.

During the meeting, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that the ratification would not be achieved this year, unless the bill passes the U.S. Congress by August, although the Bush government still will do its utmost to make that happen.

The prime minister's call was a last-ditch appeal to the National Assembly, whose term will be over in three days. On the top of the opposition parties' resistance toward the trade pact, a development in the United States also motivated Han to add his FTA pitch.

Obama asked President Bush not to submit a ``badly flawed'' FTA with South Korea to Congress for a vote, in a letter released last Friday. The comment, however, hasn't stirred much controversy in the Korean government.

``For now, it's not appropriate for us to try to establish measures on what a U.S. Senator said,'' Shin Jae-min, vice minister of culture, sports and tourism, said at a post-meeting briefing.

``From our point of view, it is quite a predictable response and comments from another Democratic candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton, could be more hard-lined.''

Another official, however, said it was a deliberate comment.

``Yes, I think Obama said that with a political intention because the United States is now entering a crucial stage leading up to the presidential election,'' said Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon on a radio show.

``Lots of American firms are pressuring Congress for the ratification, while the U.S. Auto Union hasn't made up its mind on which candidate to support. All of these things seem to have led to the release of the letter,'' Kim said.

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr