GNP pushes to pass KORUS FTA

By Chung Min-uck

The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) is accelerating its bid to pass the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) bill during the extra session of the National Assembly this month, as U.S. senate leaders agreed to work toward the ratification of the pact.

On Thursday (Korean time), U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a joint statement which supported passing long-stalled bilateral trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama after the August recess with the condition of assured passage of a Democrat-led bill on worker’s aid being separate from the trade bill.

The Democrats had linked the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, originally introduced in 2009, with the FTA to provide retraining programs and financial support to people negatively affected by the market opening.

The U.S. Congress reconvenes on Sept. 6 and Korea’s special session begins Aug. 8.

GNP members welcomed Washington’s move as the ruling party gained momentum to push ahead with its original plan to pass the pact in the August session, despite protest from the opposition parties.

“We have to submit (the FTA bill) to the standing committee during the August session,” said GNP lawmaker Nam Kyung-pil, the chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, trade and unification.

Concerning Washington’s agreement to accelerate the passage of the deal, he said, “It is significant process.”

“The agreement is meaningful since it provided an opportunity for the National Assembly to have a sincere and in-depth discussion,”said GNP floor leader Hwang Woo-yea. He had insisted on reaching an agreement with the opposition Democratic Party (DP) before making any unilateral moves on the issue but changed his stance.

“We too have to spur ratification so that the two nations could pass the bill around the same time and meet people’s expectations,” said Hwang.

“Since the U.S. Congress set the timetable, the ruling and opposition parties should align their positions as quickly as possible.”

Yet, the DP held on to its original position of renegotiating the deal with the trade counterpart prior to passing the bill.

“The government should stop hesitating and start the renegotiation with the U.S. according to the DP’s ‘10 plus 2 FTA Re-Renegotiation,’” said DP chairman Sohn Hak-kyu, during a supreme council meeting on Friday.

Last month, DP proposed a platform of mending the trade deal on 10 issues which includes postponing the date to elimination tariffs on imported American beef and two other backup measures for people negatively affected by the trade pact.

The GNP and DP lawmakers, together with high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, had a consultative meeting at the National Assembly on Friday, the fourth of its kind. But they failed to resolve the issue.

During the meeting, the government called for the passage of the trade pact in the extra session. The trade pact was initially signed in 2007 and was supplemented last December at Washington’s request.