Constitutional Court nods disputed Korea-US FTA bill
Korea Times | 12-28-2010
Constitutional Court nods disputed Korea-US FTA bill
By Park Si-soo
The Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday the Seoul-Washington free trade bill unilaterally submitted to the National Assembly in 2008 remains valid despite procedural errors, rejecting a petition from opposition lawmakers to nullify the bill pending in parliament.
Seven lawmakers of the opposition Democratic Party filed a petition with the court in December 2008, claiming that the parliament’s foreign affairs and trade committee chairman infringed upon their voting rights by denying them access to a meeting room.
On Dec. 18, 2008, of 29 lawmakers registered with the committee, 11 from the governing party entered the committee’s meeting room to hold a session and then locked the door to keep legislators from opposition parties from interrupting them.
While the majority of judges acknowledged that the committee violated due process, the court dismissed the petitioners’ request to repeal the bill in a 6-3 decision, leaving the final decision to legislators who have the last say in enacting the bill.
The South Korea-U.S. FTA was originally signed in June 2007, but the parliamentary ratification of the deal in both countries had stalled on calls from Washington that the lopsided auto trade and beef issue be resolved. Earlier this month, the two nations reached a final agreement focusing on U.S. demands that Korea soften its automotive safety and environmental standards.
The ruling lifted legal hurdles to put the pending bill to a vote at the regular session next year, which is likely to cause another political clash between rival parties in the process of ratifying the bill. The Grand National Party currently holds 171 seats in the 298-member unicameral parliament.
