By Chung Min-uck
Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), urged President Lee Myung-bak and Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, the ruling Grand National Party (GDP) chairman, to halt the passage of the long-pending Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) and 14 related bills.
“The KORUS FTA shouldn’t be passed as it is now. The FTA will impose a great loss on us as it is. It is not proper to push for the free trade deal,” Sohn said.
“The administration and the ruling party shouldn’t single-handedly handle the KORUS FTA,” he added.
On Monday, leaders of the political parties, National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae and high-ranking government officials were invited for a luncheon at Cheong Wa Dae to be briefed on the results of the President’s six-day visit to the United States and to discuss the contentious KORUS FTA.
But the GNP and DP failed to reach an agreement on the issue, with Sohn clinging to the opposition party’s original position of seeking renegotiations with the United States and the preparation of countermeasures prior to the passage of the bill.
He also reiterated the DP’s long-standing list of requests, the so-called “10 plus 2 FTA re-renegotiation.” The 10 points include issues that need changing in the final version of the free trade agreement such as postponing the date for eliminating tariffs on agricultural and livestock-related products. And the “plus two” include backup measures for people negatively affected by the trade agreement that could be implemented through establishing domestic laws.
According to Choe Guem-nak, senior presidential secretary for public affairs, Lee said during the gathering that “the ruling and the opposition parties should do what they need do to win trust from the people.”
Choe added that the President called on the leaders to cooperate on passing the bill as it is in the nation’s common interest.
Hong downplayed the DP’s claims saying that most of the requests were already discussed during the late President Roh Moo-hyun administration.
On the same day the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee held a general meeting attended by floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties and outside experts, but failed to move further on the issue due to a conflict over how to proceed with discussions.
Previously, the two sides agreed to thoroughly discuss the issue from every aspect.
Yet, two outside experts from the opposition side left in the middle of the meeting complaining about the lack of time they were given to talk about their positions.
“Two of us participated in the meeting but were only given around three minutes to share our views on important issues,” said lawyer Song Gi-ho, one of the experts after he left the meeting room.
“And it wasn’t even like a discussion,” added Song.
Rep. Yoo Ki-june, a GDP member of the committee and coordinator of the meeting said “I think they misunderstood my intention. I gave five minutes after their complaint and also said that they would be given more time if they wanted.”
The two sides only agreed to have another round of in-depth talks after deciding on methods to proceed with the meeting.
The deepening conflict between the two sides is worrying observers as failure to ratify the KORUS FTA at the National Assembly could hurt the nation’s credibility.