ID :
38457
Thu, 01/01/2009 - 17:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/38457
The shortlink copeid
S. Korean parties to resume talks to ease parliamentary deadlock
SEOUL, Jan. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's rival parties agreed Thursday to resume talks aimed at ending a festering confrontation that has prevented the National Assembly from ratifying a free trade deal with the United States and other controversial bills.
The agreement to resume talks on Friday between the floor leaders of the three
parties came hours after the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) ended its
two-week-long seizure of the speaker's office.
Violent clashes involving sledgehammers and other objects erupted at the Assembly
on Dec. 18, as DP members tried to stop the ruling Grand National Party (GNP)
from pushing for the approval of the free trade agreement (FTA) with the United
States.
The DP, which is largely outnumbered by the conservative ruling party in the
299-member legislature, has also taken over the main chamber since last Friday,
demanding the approval be delayed.
The GNP party believes the U.S. Congress -- split over pending free trade deals
with South Korea, Panama and Colombia -- will speed up ratification following
Seoul's lead. Its opponents call Lee's party "naive," especially after Democrat
Barack Obama's election victory two months ago. Obama has outwardly opposed the
Korea deal in its current form.
The free trade pact has been billed as the most significant event in South
Korea-U.S. relations since the two countries signed a military accord in 1953.
Some economists expect it to boost two-way trade -- already worth $79 billion a
year -- by as much as $20 billion in the coming years.
The rival parties are also deadlocked over a long list of reform proposals,
including the GNP's attempts to allow conglomerates and newspapers to acquire a
controlling stake in local television broadcasters and toughen punishment for
cyberspace mudslinging.
Of the more than 2,600 bills that have been introduced to the legislature since
it convened in May last year, fewer than 300 have been voted on so far. Some 300
were automatically discarded at the end of 2008.
The agreement to resume talks on Friday between the floor leaders of the three
parties came hours after the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) ended its
two-week-long seizure of the speaker's office.
Violent clashes involving sledgehammers and other objects erupted at the Assembly
on Dec. 18, as DP members tried to stop the ruling Grand National Party (GNP)
from pushing for the approval of the free trade agreement (FTA) with the United
States.
The DP, which is largely outnumbered by the conservative ruling party in the
299-member legislature, has also taken over the main chamber since last Friday,
demanding the approval be delayed.
The GNP party believes the U.S. Congress -- split over pending free trade deals
with South Korea, Panama and Colombia -- will speed up ratification following
Seoul's lead. Its opponents call Lee's party "naive," especially after Democrat
Barack Obama's election victory two months ago. Obama has outwardly opposed the
Korea deal in its current form.
The free trade pact has been billed as the most significant event in South
Korea-U.S. relations since the two countries signed a military accord in 1953.
Some economists expect it to boost two-way trade -- already worth $79 billion a
year -- by as much as $20 billion in the coming years.
The rival parties are also deadlocked over a long list of reform proposals,
including the GNP's attempts to allow conglomerates and newspapers to acquire a
controlling stake in local television broadcasters and toughen punishment for
cyberspace mudslinging.
Of the more than 2,600 bills that have been introduced to the legislature since
it convened in May last year, fewer than 300 have been voted on so far. Some 300
were automatically discarded at the end of 2008.
