Nat'l Assembly forms special committee to advance US investment bill

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik shakes hands with Cabinet members during a parliamentary plenary session at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

The National Assembly on Monday established a special committee to handle legislation aimed at implementing Korea's investment pledges to the United States under a trade deal between the two nations.

During a plenary session, the Assembly approved a resolution with bipartisan support to form the committee to deal with the special bill on U.S. investment.

The move came after Trump threatened to raise reciprocal tariffs on Korean goods back to 25 percent from 15 percent last month, citing a delay in Seoul's legislative process to pass the bill facilitating the implementation of the trade deal.

The bill was introduced by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) last November to carry out Seoul's investment pledges to the U.S. as part of a trade deal reached by the two countries last year.

Late last month, U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington could raise tariffs on imports from Korea, citing a delay in enacting the bill that would support Seoul's investment commitment.

Under the deal, Seoul has committed to investing $350 billion in the U.S., among other pledges, in return for Washington lowering reciprocal tariffs on Korea to 15 percent from 25 percent.

The bill is expected to be passed early next month after the committee's 30-day mandate ends.

The special committee will consist of 16 members, with eight lawmakers from the DPK, seven from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) and one from outside the two major parties. A PPP member will chair the committee.