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Staff Reporter
A governing Grand National Party (GNP) floor leader said Monday that the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee would vote on a motion to forward a free trade pact signed with the U.S. government to the full Assembly for ratification.
GNP lawmakers are going to vote on the motion, April 22, as agreed upon by negotiators of the ruling and opposition parties in January,'' said floor leader Rep. Hong Joon-pyo during a meeting of the party's Supreme Council.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) will not participate in the vote as its members oppose ratification before the U.S. government makes clear its posture. The minor opposition Liberty Forward Party also opposes ratification.
Negotiators of the GNP and the DP reached an agreement on voting on the motion during inter-party talks in January after U.S. President Barack Obama's administration took office.
Obama called the KORUS FTA ``badly flawed'' during the U.S. presidential campaign.
According to the presidential office, President Lee Myung-bak and Obama reached a consensus on the need for cooperation to move the trade pact forward during the G20 financial summit. But Obama has not elaborated if that means his genuine support for the trade pact without modification.
The GNP contends that the Korean legislature's approval would play a role in pressing the U.S. Congress to ratify the agreement.
But the DP expressed skepticism, saying Korea's ratification of the motion would not have a profound effect on ratification by the U.S. side.
The GNP has 17 members in the 29-member committee, enough to pass the motion on its own.
If approved, the motion will be submitted to a plenary session where a final vote will take place. The GNP has 170 seats in the 299-member legislature, while the DP has 83.
hkang@koreatimes.co.kr
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