President meets minor opposition leader as parliament plenary session called off again


President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday stepped up efforts to secure parliamentary ratification of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, as rival parties struggle to find common ground on a key sticking point in the deal.

At the National Assembly, a plenary session was called off with the consent of the Grand National Party and the largest opposition Democratic Party.

The two parties have been locked in a standoff over whether to ratify the trade pact, with the DP and other liberal groups demanding changes be made to the agreement.

Since the U.S. Congress ratified the deal last month, the Korean government and the ruling party have been making the final push to have the FTA pass the Assembly.

As part of such efforts, Lee met with Shim Dae-pyung, chief of the right-wing minority Liberty Forward Party over lunch on Wednesday and asked for the conservative leader’s help in getting the FTA bill through the Assembly.

In the closed-door meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae, Lee stressed that the treaty must be ratified within the month and asked LFP lawmakers to vote for the FTA.

Shim, in response, said his party will participate in the vote, according to Rep. Lim Young-ho, the party’s spokesperson.

“But by that, the chairman didn’t mean the LFP will side with the Grand National Party, if it pushes for the final floor vote with the intention of railroading it through,” Lim added.

On Sunday, Lee had invited Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, GNP chairman, to the presidential office, urging swift parliamentary approval of the pact.

The motion to ratify the Korea-U.S. FTA currently is gathering dust at a parliamentary trade committee, amid a fierce opposition from liberal lawmakers.

Opposition to the trade deal is centered on a set of clauses on the Investor-State Dispute settlement mechanism, which would allow American investors to bypass local legal procedures and challenge Korean policies at international courts. Opponents demand the clauses be deleted from the agreement.

The DP leaders, however, are facing growing calls from within to compromise.
About half of its 87 lawmakers support a concession plan which calls on the party leaders to back off from their initial demand for the deletion of the clauses.

Instead, they want the Korean government’s promise that it will open talks with Washington regarding the possible abolishment of the ISD rules as soon as the FTA takes effect.

Hardliners, who control the party’s leadership, are, however, resisting calls to compromise.

Noticing the changing mood in the DP, GNP floor leader Rep. Hwang Woo-yea reiterated on Thursday his willingness to wait for a change in the DP’s stance.

Rep. Nam Kyung-pil, who chairs the parliamentary trade committee where the FTA bill stands, also said he would wait to find a peaceful solution.

Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae is unlikely to exercise his authority to call the final floor vote on the FTA bill.

“Politics is the art of compromise,” Park said, adding that the ruling and opposition parties should negotiate their way out of the current impasse.

For the FTA bill to pass the Assembly, it has to clear the trade committee and then a floor vote at a plenary session. Or Park can call a direct floor vote on the bill, by-passing the committee procedures.

The GNP holds an absolute majority of 169 seats in the 299-member unicameral house. Opposition lawmakers threatened that there could be an ugly brawl on the parliamentary floor, if the GNP moves to pass the bill on its own.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)