hankyoreh

The administration and ruling party decided October 31 that they are going to move towards an early ratification of the free trade agreement with the United States, meaning many will be watching to see whether a ratification bill passes the current National Assembly session.

The decision came at a high-level government-ruling party policy coordination meeting held at the prime minister’s office that was attended, among others, by Grand National Party Chairman Park Hee-tae, Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, and President Lee Myung-bak’s chief-of-staff, Chung Chung-kil.

“The government and ruling party have decided to have the FTA with the U.S. passed as quickly as possible under agreement with the ruling and opposition parties,” said GNP spokesman Yoon Sang-hyun. “It was decided that a government-ruling party task force would be formed to respond to the matter swiftly and in a systematic fashion in a working-level situation.”

The decision carries the weight of the political will of President Lee, who wants to use greater access to the U.S. market to help fight against Korea’s economic circumstances. GNP policy committee chairman Yim Tae-hee called “early ratification” a “preemptive response against our shrinking export market.”

“By securing an American export market that enjoys more advantageous conditions than competing nations, we will try to minimize the effects of decreased domestic consumption in the U.S.,” said Yim, who also said part of the intention was to pressure the United States to ratify the agreement by ratifying it first.

Some in the GNP, however, are calling for a somewhat slower pace.

“I’m not sure who it is in the U.S. that would take our move as pressure right ahead of the U.S. presidential election,” said one GNP Assembly member from Seoul. “And I don’t know what reason we have to hurriedly move this along with the goal of getting it ratified within the end of the year.”

GNP members who are less than enthusiastic about passing a ratification bill within the next two months are not considered party heavyweights, however, and their voices are not expected to influence the agreement arrived at by the administration and the GNP.

The Democratic Party agrees in principle on the need to ratify the Korea-U.S. FTA, but wants the agreement approached in stages, with preparations made for an open market with the United States before the trade pact is ratified. It wants to see the government first do something for those who will suffer as a result of the deal -- people like farmers. Democrats say it would not be too late to ratify the pact after seeing which way the U.S. presidential election turns, and look over what the advantages and disadvantages of the FTA would be at that point.

The ruling and opposition parties do generally agree on the need to pass the FTA. But major differences about what to do about those who would be affected, and with the National Assembly’s plate already full as it is with the 2009 national budget and the GNP proposing many bills that would “turn the clock back to the past,” it does not look like navigating the discussion is going to go smoothly.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]