Opposition parties boycott Assembly sessions in protest of FTA passage
Yonhap News, Korea
Opposition parties boycott Assembly sessions in protest of FTA passage
By Kim Eun-jung
23 November 2011
SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) — The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) vowed Wednesday to boycott all parliamentary sessions in protest of the ruling party’s unilateral passage of the disputed free trade agreement with the U.S.
DP leader Sohn Hak-kyu said his party will launch a campaign to invalidate the U.S. free trade deal, while a group of DP lawmakers staged a sit-in protest inside the Assembly’s main conference room.
On Tuesday, the DP, which controls 87 seats of the 299-member unicameral parliament, failed to stop the Grand National Party, with 169 seats, from abruptly pushing through the FTA bill. DP lawmakers vowed to thwart any GNP attempt to force through next year’s budget bill.
DP leader Sohn said his party will push ahead with its demand to renegotiate the investor-state dispute (ISD) settlement, a key clause the DP claims unfairly favors U.S. interests. President Lee Myung-bak had offered to renegotiate the clause within three months after the deal was ratified, but the DP turned down his offer.
"It was absurd and shameless the (GNP) rammed through the bill in a closed session," Sohn said in a party meeting. "(I) apologize for not being able to block it."
DP floor leader Kim Jin-pyo blamed the ruling party for the political deadlock.
"We have repeatedly said the parliament’s most important task is to pass next year’s budget bill and other bills essential for the people, not the South Korea-U.S. FTA. Due to their violent unilateral passage, our efforts proved futile," Kim said. "The GNP should take the blame for the crippled operation of the National Assembly."
Several parliamentary committee meetings and budget review sessions originally scheduled for Wednesday were called off.
In fear of a further backlash, GNP legislators said little, although they did say that the decision to pass the bill was unavoidable in order to break the prolonged standoff over the trade pact.
"The DP’s intention to win next year’s elections by forming an opposition alliance cannot override national interests," GNP spokesman Kim Ki-hyun said in a radio interview.
Later Wednesday, GNP leader Hong Joon-pyo, who orchestrated the unilateral passage, said his party will make efforts to come up with additional safeguards for farmers and other small retailers to minimize damage from the trade deal.
"We will fully implement measures agreed to by the ruling and opposition parties and demanded by the DP," Hong said at a briefing. "The president is deliberating additional measures and we’re conducting a review of additional safeguards."
His remark came after President Lee Myung-bak earlier in the day instructed the government to take follow-up measures to implement the FTA in a way that would boost the economy and minimize any damage to local small businesses.
On Tuesday evening, about 2,500 protesters took to the streets in downtown Seoul to voice their discontent over the parliament’s ratification of the accord.
