Rep. Park Jin |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
For those who have known or ever talked with Rep. Park Jin of the governing Grand National Party (GNP), it was hard to believe the gentle and reasonable lawmaker played a large role in creating the shameful violent clash in the National Assembly over the free trade motion.
Park, chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification, is now literally at the center of a storm over the KORUS FTA motion after he invoked his power to table the pact.
National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyong-o Friday announced the investigation into the violence for possible disciplinary action. ``There is no doubt that the KORUS FTA will benefit the ailing Korean economy, but I don't understand why the GNP sought the going-it-alone approach, instead of having discussions with opposition parties,'' said Kim.
The largest opposition Democratic Party (DP) lawmakers and their aides used hammers and electric saws Thursday to break the door of the foreign affairs committee's conference room in an attempt to stop the unilateral move.
Scuffles and violence were rampant between the GNP and DP sides as the ruling party lawmakers and staff members were trying to block their entry.
In a closed-door meeting, Chairman Park and the GNP lawmakers made a quick decision to submit the motion to a subcommittee for deliberation.
Once deliberation is completed, the foreign affairs committee will vote on the motion before a vote in the plenary session.
The governing party can easily pass the motion as the committee is consisted of 27 lawmakers and 17 of them are GNP lawmakers,
Park said it was inevitable for him to seek it as DP lawmakers were uncooperative in discussing the crucial pact.
His justification was still not strong enough to convince those who are familiar with Park's personality and work style.
Chairman Park was described as a well-mannered man with strong interpersonal skills.
Situational factors also brought Park's motives for seeking the unilateral move into question.
Some GNP lawmakers were skeptical that the ratification could encourage the United States to take reciprocal action.
Rep. Chung Mong-joon hinted Korea has no good reason to pass the KORUS FTA this year. He made the remark after returning from his visit to Washington D.C. in early December.
``People in Washington were overwhelmed by the financial meltdown pounding their economy, and said they were now engaged in two wars―― one with Iraq and the other with Afghanistan. So I think that we need to have more dialogue with Washington to find joint gain that can benefit both sides, instead of repeating our position,'' he said.
DP leaders, who opposed the ratification before the completion of structural adjustment programs for farmers, argued Washington would not feel pressure at all even if Seoul passed the motion.
Tong Kim, a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, agreed with the DP's view, saying ``To my knowledge, there are no lawmakers in Senate or Congress who called for the KORUS FTA ratification.''
Kim said the violence will only shape a bad impression of the legislature.
``Korea watchers in the United States would perceive that politics here are indeed retroactive if they watched it,'' said Kim.
He asserted the violence would be of no help to the fate of the FTA motion in the United States.
So the question is why Park pushed for the motion, which may come at a price of his political career.
Analysts say President Lee Myung-bak, who reportedly seeks a reform drive next year, flexed his muscles behind gentleman Park's resort to invoking his power to table the pact.
DP Chairman Chung Sye-kyun made a similar comment regarding Park's motive, arguing ``GNP leaders tend to shift their stance after meeting someone in the presidential office. They never make their own decisions on major agendas.''
After Lee took power in February, experts say ``the bulldozer'' was unable to reform the economy as he'd promised, partly because of the National Assembly election in April.
They say Lee perceives next year as a golden opportunity to seek a drive to reform as no elections will take place.
hkang@koreatimes.co.kr
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yistory@koreatimes.co.kr
