By Chung Min-uck
Tension at the National Assembly over the long-pending Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) will likely escalate this week as the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) Monday decided to push for the passage of the pact soon.
“It is not proper to further delay the ratification of the KORUS FTA as it is related to our national interest,” said GNP Chairman Rep. Hong Joon-pyo during a Supreme Council meeting Monday.
``The GNP reached a consensus to ratify the free trade deal as soon as possible,” said Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, the GNP spokesman, after the meeting.
The ruling party’s declaration comes amid its repeated failure to reach an agreement with the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and the growing anxiety that Thursday’s plenary session could be virtually the last chance for the trade pact to take effect as scheduled.
The U.S. and Korean governments expect the trade pact to kick off on Jan. 1, 2012.
GNP floor leader Rep. Hwang Woo-yea and Rep. Nam Kyung-pil, chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee, have been advocating dialogue with the opposition parties but they also altered their stance.
“The standing committee can be held regardless of the location. The place where the committee chairman convenes is the standing committee,” said Hwang
His claim is based on the National Assembly Law that does not indicate any specific location for a committee meeting to be held.
Opposition party members, especially the lawmakers from the minor Democratic Labor Party, have been occupying the committee meeting room since last Monday to prevent the ruling party from pushing the bill unilaterally.
“I will open a committee meeting under the procedure that the National Assembly Law allows,” said Nam. “The general meeting of the committee could be held as early as Tuesday afternoon.”
On the same day Nam also ordered the subcommittee of budget deliberation to finalize the budget bill by Tuesday morning so that the general meeting of the committee could be held.
Meanwhile, the DP ratcheted up its campaign on persuading the public of the “unfairness” of the trade deal represented by the investor-state dispute (ISD) clause over the weekend. The DP claims the clause would allow American companies to incapacitate domestic policies as they will be able to bring cases to international courts.
However, the GNP rejected DP’s request for discarding the clause, saying it is an international standard included in most FTA deals and out of fear that another round of negotiation with the U.S. government would further delay the ratification of the trade pact.
The opposition parties organized an anti-FTA rally in central Seoul Saturday which attracted some 3,000 people.
Following the opposition’s fierce blockage of the ratification, observers say the ruling party is likely to ask its former chairman and National Assembly speaker Park Hee-tae to exercise his authority to pass the bill directly on to the plenary session Thursday without the approval of the standing committee.
Prompted by the swift ratification of the KORUS FTA at the U.S. Congress earlier last month, the government and the GNP have been eager to follow suit, but failed due to fierce objections from opposition party lawmakers.
The agreement was originally signed in 2007 and amended last December at the request of the U.S. government.