Korea’s National Assembly Ratifies KORUS FTA
Arirang News, Korea
Korea’s National Assembly Ratifies KORUS FTA
22 November 2011
By Kang Seok-ho, Arirang News.
Korean lawmakers ratified the long-pending Korea-United States free trade agreement Tuesday afternoon, about 50 days after the US Congress approved the deal.
With 1-hundred-70 lawmakers present in the Assembly’s chamber, 1-hundred-51 lawmakers voted in favor of the trade pact,.. while seven voted against it.
Twelve lawmakers abstained.
The ruling Grand National Party had tried numerous times over the past 20 days to hold a vote on the ratification bill at the trade committee level before sending it to a plenary session.
But disagreements with the main opposition Democratic Party kept the bill in deadlock until Tuesday morning.
Later in the day the GNP floor leadership made a request to National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae, asking to use his authority to introduce the bill and hold a vote at an unscheduled plenary session.
Park delegated his authority to Vice-Speaker Chung Ui-hwa, and the vice-speaker put the ratification bill up for a vote a bit after 4 p.m.
Because the GNP controls 1-hundred-69 of the 2-hundred-95 seats currently held at the National Assembly, the ruling party was able to unilaterally ratify the trade agreement, despite fierce resistance by opposition lawmakers.
The lawmakers also passed 14 supplementary legislations, that will amend existing Korean laws, including copyright and tariff regulations, before the FTA goes into effect.
Following the ratification, the GNP said the trade deal could not be delayed any longer, as the DP and other minor opposition parties were blocking its passage without legitimate reasons.
The DP heavily criticized the GNP for forcefully passing the ratification bill behind closed doors, and announced that the party will not participate in any future legislative processes.
