hankyoreh

The second round of South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations began July 10, with both ruling and opposition camps raising strong criticism of the government’s approach to the talks.

Members of the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Forestry, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Committee, including chairman Kwon Oh-eul, told a press conference that "domestic agriculture could be seriously damaged by the FTA with the United States. Under such circumstances, the government is unilaterally pushing ahead with the FTA without collecting public opinion. The government should hold the FTA talks only after devising mid- and long-term plans in the area of agriculture." They also demanded rice be excluded from tariff concession, urging the government "not to proceed with the negotiations hastily, pressed by a time limit."

The committee members asked the government to put in place a special safeguard for items whose imports are expected to rapidly increase by the elimination of tariffs. They also urged the government to secure authority on a quota system that would regulate tariff rates, as well as to have a say in sanitation and quarantine standards as much as possible.

"Unless our demands are reflected in the talks, we will not accept the results of the negotiations," the committee members said.

About 35 assemblymen from a bipartisan group of lawmakers studying the FTA, such as Reps. Kim Tae-hong and Moon Hak-jin of the Uri Party, Kwon Young-gil and Kang Ki-kab of the Democratic Labor Party, and Shin Jung-sik and Choi In-kee of the Democratic Party, expressed serious concern about the negotiations. In a statement, they urged the government "to provide information on the negotiation process to the public transparently, and to completely report [information] to the National Assembly." They added that the government "did not properly reflect the opinion of the people and the Assembly in its tariff concession offer."

At a press conference, Rep. Choi In-kee of the minor opposition Democratic Party and its floor leader Kim Hyo-seok suggested that the ruling and opposition camps should "issue a joint statement tomorrow to clarify that the FTA ratification should be made after reaching a bipartisan agreement, in order to make the public feel safe and to ensure the fairness of the negotiations."

The National Assembly agreed to form a special FTA committee at its June 30 plenary session, but it has not yet appointed committee members. The Democratic Party floor leader Kim criticized the "incompetence" of the Assembly, requesting that it complete formation of the special committee.