Lee urges parliament to approve KORUS FTA in May
Korea Times
Lee urges parliament to approve KORUS FTA in May
22 April 2008
President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday (Apr. 22) renewed his calls for the parliament to convene a special session during May to ratify the long-delayed Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA).
Presiding over a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office, Lee said that he actively stressed the urgent need for the U.S. Congress to approve the KORUS FTA during his U.S. visit last week, and now it’s time for the South Korean parliament to cooperate.
"During my U.S. trip, I found a number of American business leaders, as well as key members of the U.S. House and Senate, reacted favorably to the KORUS FTA," said Lee at the Cabinet meeting.
"Cabinet ministers have to persuade (Korean) lawmakers of the national benefits of the KORUS FTA before parliament opens its special session next month. Both Korea and the U.S. have to approach the issue from the perspective of national interest," said Lee.
Lee returned home Monday after a week-long trip to the U.S. and Japan, during which he and U.S. President George W. Bush held a summit at Camp David to discuss their strategic alliance, ratification of the KORUS FTA, and policy coordination for peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.
Lee told reporters in Japan on Monday that he is confident that the U.S. Congress will ratify the KORUS FTA by the end of this year. Seoul and Washington finished negotiations on the deal last June, and are now awaiting its ratification by their respective legislatures. Seoul’s decision last Friday to lift its ban on U.S. beef imports removed a major roadblock to getting U.S. Congress to pass the free trade pact, though the move was harshly criticized at home.
Lee also told Cabinet ministers that he believes Korea and the U.S. have completely restored their bilateral trust through his visit to New York and Washington, and instructed them to swiftly work out summit follow-up measures.
In a related move, the presidential office issued a press release on Tuesday disclosing that Korea and the U.S. are planning to adopt a joint declaration on a future alliance vision in July, when Bush visits Seoul for his second summit with Lee.
Meanwhile, commenting on a Korea-Japan summit agreement to resume negotiations on their bilateral FTA in June, Lee said Japan has to make a lot of concessions in the upcoming FTA negotiations.
Lee and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda held summit talks in Tokyo on Monday and agreed to push various economic cooperation projects as part of an effort to promote a mature partnership.
