S. Korea-U.S. free ill trade bpresented to parliamentary committee

SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's parliamentary subcommittee on Wednesday approved a bill to ratify the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) after the main opposition party walked out in boycott.

The ratification bill, endorsed by the judiciary subcommittee, has been sent to
the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee for a
vote amid protest by opposition lawmakers who raised questions over the legal
procedures for the FTA bill.
"The Korea-U.S. FTA bill must be approved by the National Assembly in order to
overcome the economic crisis as soon as possible. The bill will now be discussed
at a full session of the foreign affairs committee," said Rep. Hwang Jin-ha of
the ruling Grand National Party (GNP), head of the judiciary subcommittee.
The governments of South Korea and the U.S. signed the FTA in June 2007, but the
legislatures of both sides have so far been unable to ratify the deal due to
protracted political wrangling.
The GNP, which controls over 170 seats of the 299-seat unicameral National
Assembly, has vowed to ratify the FTA as soon as possible, whereas the main
opposition Democratic Party has said it will use any means necessary to prevent
the approval of the deal.
Last December, the National Assembly's foreign affairs committee unilaterally
submitted the FTA bill to its judiciary subcommittee for legal deliberation in a
session violently opposed by the DP and other opposition parties.
As expected, DP lawmakers strongly protested the ruling party lawmakers'
unilateral presentation of the FTA bill to the plenary session.
"The submission itself of the FTA bill to the judiciary subcommittee was made in
an illegal manner. Therefore, its presentation to the committee plenary session
should also be seen as illegal," Rep. Park Sang-cheon of the DP said before
leaving the subcommittee meeting room.