| |
SEOUL: South Korea's parliament failed to ratify a free trade deal with the United States before the legislature's four-year term expired Thursday, lawmakers said.
Opposition parties had boycotted the National Assembly since Monday, demanding President Lee Myung-Bak's government renegotiate a separate deal allowing the resumption of US beef imports.
That deal is a pre-condition for Washington's approval of the free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea, which some analysts say could eventually boost annual trade between the two nations by 20 billion US dollars.
"Sadly, we failed to ratify the FTA in this parliament," said Ahn Sang-Soo, the outgoing floor leader of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP).
"We must not waste time any longer. I plead with the United Democratic Party to cooperate and approve the FTA in early months of the incoming legislature," he said, referring to the main opposition party.
"The beef issue is a decisive obstacle to the ratification of the FTA. Unless this obstacle is removed, there will be no FTA," said the United Democratic Party's (UDP's) new floor leader, Won Hye-Young.
The South Korean and US governments refuse to renegotiate the controversial beef pact, which has led to mounting protests over fears of mad cow disease.
Thousands of South Koreans have taken to the streets and held candle-light vigils to protest about the supposed dangers of the human form of the disease.
But the ruling party said it would announce the resumption of US beef imports later Thursday despite the protests. It agreed in April to lift its intermittent ban on the imports, first imposed in 2003 amid a mad cow scare.
The new parliament convenes Friday but incoming legislators have to repeat procedures to ratify the FTA that have already taken five months.
Lee's government had hoped to get the trade pact ratified in May to press the US Congress to move quickly.
The liberal UDP used to be the largest party in the outgoing parliament but lost general elections in April to the conservative GNP, which will hold a majority of 153 seats in the new 299-member assembly.
But the Yonhap news agency said it would be difficult for the GNP to push through the FTA as long as opposition parties boycott essential talks about the operation of the new parliament. - AFP/ac
|
