Korea-U.S. FTA

A Note on Parliamentary Procedure in the National Assembly

Evan Ramstad reports on "Fistfight Theater in Korea Parliament":

South Korea’s parliament has no filibuster or any other method for opposition parties to slow down legislation they don’t like. Most of the time, the opposition party lawmakers simply vote their votes and let the ruling party take responsibility for good or bad legislation.

But when lawmakers want to show that they really don’t like what the ruling party is doing, they resort to trying to physically control the chamber where the vote takes place. And their staffers are enlisted into a day or two of shoving, pushing, furniture stacking and unstacking, barricading doors, occupying podiums, yelling, singing, hair-pulling and so on.

Generally, it is mayhem that stays within limits. For instance, in July 2009 when opposition lawmakers engaged in fisticuffs to express displeasure with media-reform bills, they made a deal with ruling lawmakers to shove each other with their chests and shoulders and not lift their arms and hands to each other, according to staffers.

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This is from a much longer blog post with lots of pictures.

People who don't like the new (KORUS) deal

Congressman Michaud of Maine doesn't like it: Michaud Responds to Deal on Korea-US Trade Agreement.  

Neither does Lori Wallach of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch: Obama’s Decision to Push Bush’s NAFTA-Style Korea Trade Deal Without Real Fixes Is Major Policy, Political Mistake.

Max Baucus, Democrat from Montana, and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, thinks more should have been done to address Korean restrictions on beef imports: Baucus Deeply Disappointed With Announcement on Korea Trade Deal, Commits to Keep Fighting for American Ranchers.

Auggie Tantillo of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition is concerned (U.S. Sets Sweeping New Deal on Trade):

Even before its full details were released, trade skeptics in the U.S. assailed the deal as doing too little to protect U.S. workers. "If the flaws that industry identified in the agreement were not fixed, then this deal could offshore tens of thousands of additional U.S. manufacturing jobs," said Auggie Tantillo, executive director American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, which had pressed for greater action on textile industry-related tariffs and customs-enforcement language.   

Lee Tae-hoon reports for the Korea Times that Korean opposition parties in the National Assembly are not happy,  "Opposition to block ratification of FTA":

Opposition parties Sunday vowed to block the National Assembly’s endorsement of the revised free trade deal (FTA) with the United States, saying the government has made excessive concessions in the “humiliating negotiation”.

Citing a report, Sohn Hak-kyu, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), estimated that Seoul made concessions worth 3 trillion won ($2.64 billion) to Washington in return for new demands worth 300 billion won.

The DP leader said that his party is mulling over whether to demand a complete revision of the bilateral trade deal in an attempt to seek revisions in the ratchet clause that bars going back to the pre-FTA days and the investor-state dispute (ISD) system, which allows investors to file suits against each other’s government for possible unfair treatment.

DP floor leader Park Jie-won said his party will join forces with civic groups and other opposition parties, including the Liberty Forward Party (LFP), to address the problems of the revised bilateral trade deal in an attempt to block its parliamentary ratification.

“Our party cannot tolerate the disgraceful negotiation process and will not accept the lopsided deal,” Park said shortly after Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon’s briefing on the results of the FTA renegotiation.

Opposition parties pointed out that the timing of the renegotiation was ill-guided as it took place when the nation’s security heavily depends on U.S. forces and inter-Korean tensions reached a new peak due to Pyongyang’s artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island on Nov. 23.

“The government failed to protect the nation’s interests by holding the talks at a time when it desperately needs military cooperation from the United States,” the LFP said in a statement.

What happens now?

Jonathan Dingel at Trade Diversion wonders "Will the revised Korea-US PTA be fast tracked?"   Trade promotion (fast track) authority covered agreements entered into before July 1, 2007. 

Also, does the new agreement mean it's "Back to square one in the National Assembly?"

 

Back to square one in the National Assembly?

The Korean National Assembly's Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade approved the KORUS FTA in April, 2009, clearing the way for consideration by the full National Assembly.  That's as far as its gotten.

Now the Assembly's research arm asserts that:

FTA through key National Assembly committee; final Assembly action in June?

The National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee has signed off on the U.S.-Korea FTA, paving the way for final action by the Assembly: S. Korean parliamentary committee approves FTA with US.

The story mentions the possibility of Assembly action before the current session ends in April, but it sounds more likely in June, perhaps following a Korea-U.S. summit.

A step forward in the National Assembly?

The Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee in Korea's National Assembly plans to vote Wednesday, April 22, on sending the trade agreement to the Assembly itself: Assembly Committee to Vote on KORUS FTA Motion Wednesday.  Opposition legislators won't be voting for it, but it doesn't sound like they'll be trying to disrupt voting this time either:

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) will not participate in the vote as its members oppose ratification before the U.S. government makes clear its posture. The minor opposition Liberty Forward Party also opposes ratification.

Negotiators of the GNP and the DP reached an agreement on voting on the motion during inter-party talks in January after U.S. President Barack Obama's administration took office.

KORUS FTA takes a step forward in the National Assembly

The National Assembly's Judiciary Committee approved the trade agreement, despite a walkout by the opposition: SKorea lawmakers endorse US FTA bill:

The bill was approved by the judiciary subcommittee after opposition legislators boycotted the meeting, the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) said.

The bill still requires approval by the subcommittees for foreign affairs, trade and unification, before it is submitted to a plenary session of the National Assembly for ratification.

Mid-January, 2009

In early January the standoff over the occupation of the National Assembly was resolved by an agreement that included a provision to postpone consideration of the trade agreement: FTA consideration deferred.

FTA consideration deferred

With the end of the opposition occupation of the National Assembly chambers, the different parties have negotiated a schedule for voting on 85 bills: Lawmakers end Assembly standoff:

A timetable was agreed upon by floor leaders from the Grand National Party, the Democratic Party and an alliance of the Liberty Forward and Creative Korea parties yesterday evening, but votes on hotly contested bills were largely postponed to a February session or no deadline was set...

Of the list of 85 urgent bills that the GNP wanted to push through, negotiators agreed that 58 less-sensitive measures should be deliberated and voted on before the end of the current session...

The current Assembly session ends on January 8.  The trade agreement bill was left for some indefinite date after Obama's inauguration.  

The opposition occupation of the Assembly chambers was an effective parliamentary maneuver, forcing a revision of the majority's legislative timetable.

Troy Stangarone of the Korea Economic Institute summarizes the events of the last couple of weeks (Melee Breaks Out in National Assembly over KORUS FTA):

Sit-in ends; FTA deferred

Opposition legislators have traded their occupation of the National Assembly for an agreement by the majority Grand National Party to defer consideration of the trade agreement with the U.S.: South Korea Opposition Ends Occupation of Parliament.

Security tried repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, over the weekend to force the protesting legislators to leave the hall: SKorean parliament clashes leave dozens injured: officials:

About 150 unarmed security guards, acting on the speaker's order, have intermittently attempted to break up the sit-in since Saturday. Some protesters were frogmarched out but most others remained in place by linking arms.

The scuffles inside the National Assembly building have left 53 security guards injured while one of the DP lawmakers had an arm injury, officials said.