Ruling party lawmakers leave for U.S. seeking improved ties

SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- Members of South Korea's ruling conservative party left
for Washington Monday to discuss a pending trade pact and stronger relations with
the incoming U.S. administration.
The visit comes about a month after Democrat Barack Obama won the U.S.
presidential election on Nov. 4, signaling the possibility of direct talks with
isolated North Korea and clouding prospects on immediate implementation of the
free trade agreement (FTA) with Seoul.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his Grand National Party are eager for
prompt approval of the pending trade deal, struck between former president Roh
Moo-hyun and his counterpart George W. Bush in June last year.
"We will be meeting several U.S. officials and experts to discuss a strengthened
alliance and reaffirm our position on the FTA," said Rep. Chung Mong-joon, who
will be leading the four-member delegation. "This visit isn't meant just to seek
out a connection with Obama aides."
After attending two forums on the Korea-U.S. alliance and security issues on the
Korean Peninsula, hosted by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy
(NCAFP) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the ruling
party delegation will meet NCAFP President George Schwab and CSIS President John
Hamre.
The lawmakers also plan to meet with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger,
former Asian affairs director at the National Security Council Michael Green and
former Assistant Secretary of Defense Joseph Nye.
Diplomatic experts here have raised concerns over further deterioration of
inter-Korean ties, speculating that Pyongyang will move to alienate Seoul while
seeking direct talks with the new U.S. government.
The communist North has already taken increasingly hostile steps against its
southern neighbor, ejecting nearly 3,000 South Korean officials from a joint
industrial park in the border city of Kaesong and toughening border controls.
The conservative Lee government has not yet taken any retaliatory steps against
North Korea, instead focusing on revitalizing the country's economy which has
been hit hard by the global credit crunch.
Immediate approval of the much-delayed FTA with Washington is seen as an
opportunity for the Lee administration to boost his domestic economic agenda.
Opposition parties are skeptical, however, questioning the effectiveness of an
early passage of the bill as the Democratic-led U.S. Congress remains split over
the issue.
During the course of his campaign, President-elect Obama has repeatedly expressed
his opposition to aspects of the pending trade deal with Korea, citing in
particular an imbalance in auto trade between the two nations.
The Korea-U.S. FTA is the single biggest trade pact between the two longstanding
allies, anticipated to boost two-way trade, which totaled US$79 billion in 2007,
by as much as $20 billion in the coming years.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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