FTA passage heightens political tension

DP decides to boycott all parliamentary sessions, fight back ratification


The inter-party conflicts over the long-pending free trade pact peaked as the ruling Grand National Party enforced the trade bill in a surprise plenary session Tuesday, triggering heated backlash from the opposition camp and also from some of its own members.

“From now on, the DP shall suspend all of its parliamentary schedules and focus on fighting back the GNP’s violence and expediency,” said Rep. Kim Yoo-jung, floor spokesperson of the main opposition Democratic Party.

The DP’s resolution led to concerns that the parliament may neglect key issues such as next year’s budget bill, which presently is pending in the budget committee and is scheduled to be submitted next Friday.

Democratic Party leader Sohn Hak-kyu (third from left) vows that opposition will nullify the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement at the National Assembly on Tuesday. (Yonhap News)

Kim also asked for the resignation of Speaker Park Hee-tae, together with the group of 22 GNP lawmakers who earlier pledged to give up their candidacy in the next parliamentary term, in case the ruling party forces the bill through the National Assembly in a violent fashion.

“We shall not give up until the unjust FTA is nullified,” said DP chairman Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu.

Sohn is also expected to face dilemmas concerning next year’s general and presidential races as the minority left-wing parties, with which he is to form opposition unity, unconditionally vetoed the trade agreement.

The minority Democratic Labor Party referred to the GNP’s moves as “dictatorial violence” and defended its lawmaker Rep. Kim Sun-dong, who fired tear gas in the parliament’s main hall to block the passage of the deal.

“Rep. Kim’s move was an attempt to block the GNP’s treachery,” said the party’s spokesperson.

The conservative minority Liberty Forward Party also blasted the GNP for rushing the bill in a blitzkrieg style, two days ahead of the originally scheduled plenary session on Thursday, though it equally blamed the DP for intensifying the conflicts for its own partisan sake.

The GNP, on the other hand, claimed that the high-handed measures were unavoidable.

“We apologize for failing to pass the bill in a peaceful and democratic means, but we only made an inevitable choice for the sake of our nation’s economy and people’s livelihood improvement,” said GNP spokesperson Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon.

“All of our lawmakers understood and agreed that it was time to act together for a common good.”

However, the moderate members who fought for a peaceful solution expressed their regret over the processes.

“It has become impossible to restore proper parliamentarism in the current assembly,” said Rep. Jeong Tae-keun, who has staged a hunger-strike for a peaceful vote of the pact over the past 10 days.

The free trade bill was passed in a 151-7 vote with 12 abstentions, indicating that most of the 169 GNP members voted in favor, including most of the lawmakers who want a peacefully negotiated solution.

While parties remained at odds over the results, the presidential office welcomed the parliamentary approval and promised to seek protective follow-up measures for farmers and other local industries, according to Cheong Wa Dae officials.

Under the given schedule, the disputed trade pact is to take effect on Jan. 1 next year.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)