Opposition Vows to Oust Agriculture Minister
By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
Three opposition parties submitted to the National Assembly, Wednesday, a motion calling for the dismissal of Minister of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Chung Woon-chun over the government's ``failure'' in beef import talks with the U.S.
President Lee Myung-bak will Thursday deliver a nationally televised speech asking for the early ratification of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S. Lee will also express regrets over the ongoing mad cow disease dispute, Cheong Wa Dae sources said.
Floor leader Kim Hyo-seuk of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) said the opposition will try to pass the motion Thursday or Friday. The Constitution stipulates that a motion calling for the dismissal of a Cabinet minister is passed if more than half of lawmakers in the Assembly vote for it. However, even if it is approved, it is non-binding on the President.
One hundred and fifty-one lawmakers signed the motion ― 136 from the UDP, nine from the Liberty Forward Party (LFP) and six from the Democratic Labor Party (DLP).
The UDP has opposed the governing camp's plan to have the current National Assembly ratify the FTA before its four-year term ends on May 29, saying that it will not be cooperative in the ratification unless the government renegotiates the beef import deal with Washington.
The opposition says the government should not, among others, allow the import of meat from U.S. cattle aged 30 months or older.
The opposition parties said in a joint statement that Minister Chung greatly infringed upon the basic human right for public health and the country's ``quarantine sovereignty'' in a ``sloppy, unprofessional and hasty deal.''
``Chung has lost the qualification for his post as he struggled to hide the reality and delude the people instead of acknowledging that the negotiations were a failure,'' the statement said.
Chung has shown no intention of renegotiating the deal despite the demands of the ``majority of Koreans.'' This shows that he is unwilling to continue his job as agriculture minister, it said.
Kang Jae-sup, chairman of the governing Grand National Party (GNP), proposed that lawmakers be allowed to hold a free vote on the FTA ratification.
In a meeting of the party's decision-making Supreme Council, Kang stressed that the FTA must be settled in a plenary session no later than Friday.
In his speech, President Lee plans to express his regrets for failing to have sufficient communications with the people before the government decided to fully open the beef market to U.S. products, his aides said.
Lee is also likely to ask the 17th-term National Assembly to pass a motion to ratify the Korea-U.S. FTA before its four-year term expires.
But the possibility of Lee accepting the opposition demand that imports of meat from U.S. cattle aged 30 months or more be banned via renegotiations is quite low, sources said.
In front of Cheong Wa Dae, dozens of opposition lawmakers launched an ``indefinite'' protest urging the government to hold renegotiations with Washington after apologizing for botched negotiations.
Some critics say President Lee, Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and chief negotiator Min Dong-seok are more responsible for the failure than the agriculture minister.