Ruling party leader Park Geun-hye lashed out strongly at the main opposition party Monday over its campaign promise to scrap the free trade deal with the United States, saying those arguing for repealing the pact should not be allowed to run the country.
The trade deal, first signed in 2007 and modified in December 2010, was approved by the ruling party-controlled parliament in November despite strong objection from opposition parties that claimed the pact favors the U.S. and should be renegotiated.
Last week, the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) said it will demand that Washington renegotiate the deal before it goes into effect or seek to dump the pact altogether after winning April's general elections and December's presidential vote.
Park, a leading presidential hopeful, stressed that it was when the DUP was in power that the government launched negotiations and first signed the trade accord, and that the party's calls for scrapping the pact have been an irresponsible about-face.
"(The DUP) claimed it was pushing for the FTA for national interests when it was in power, but it is now making the exact opposite argument after it became an opposition party. I cannot let those who claim they will scrap the FTA if they win the elections lead the country," Park said at a party meeting.
"If that happens because of our indolence and faults, we would do a great disservice to history."
Park stressed that the administration of late former President Roh Moo-hyun signed the deal in 2007 and his Cabinet members persuaded lawmakers and the people that the trade pact would help the nation's export-driven economy.
Among them was then Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, who now leads the DUP with promises to scrap the deal if liberals gain the legislative majority in April and the presidency in December.
"Prior to judging what is right or wrong about the S. Korea-U.S. FTA, politicians should be held responsible for their words and behaviors and they should be consistent," Park added.
As part of efforts to raise public awareness, opposition lawmakers on Friday staged an anti-FTA rally in front of the U.S. Embassy in downtown Seoul and delivered a letter to President Barack Obama to ask his government to consider renegotiating the trade deal.
While talks are under way between Seoul and Washington to fine-tune the schedule for the pact's implementation, the government has yet to confirm when the deal will take effect. South Korean Trade Minister Park Tae-ho earlier said the pact may be effective by the end of the month or early March.
The opposition party's move is seen as an apparent attempt to woo core liberal voters before elections as they argue the deal will only benefit the nation's large conglomerates and worsen the economic inequality between the rich and poor.
Studies by the nation's think-tanks expected the deal to benefit the Asian powerhouse's technology and auto industries, while making its agricultural and fisheries ebb away due to cheap products in the long term.
Two-way trade between Korea and the U.S. reached some $90 billion in 2010, according to the Seoul government.(Yonhap)