South Korean Politics and Elections

Democratic Labor Party blocks FTA vote

Lawmakers occupied parliamentary committee chief’s office, denying him entry

The Hankyoreh, February 12, 2008

Lawmakers of the progressive, opposition Democratic Labor Party blocked a parliamentary committee meeting to vote on a free trade agreement with the United States, dimming prospects the ratification of the deal in the National Assembly’s extraordinary session this month.

South Korea and the United States signed the accord in June 2007 after nearly a year of sometimes acrimonious negotiations to lower or eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers on goods and services. The agreement must be ratified by the legislatures of both countries before it goes into effect. The South Korean government submitted the deal to the National Assembly in September last year for approval, while the United States has yet to put it to a congressional vote.

The parliamentary committee for unification, foreign affairs and trade was scheduled to convene the meeting at 10:00 a.m. on February 11, but eight DLP lawmakers occupied the office of the committee chief, Rep. Kim Won-wung, and then they blocked Kim from entering the office to hold the meeting. The committee now plans to hold the meeting on February 13.

As the meeting to vote on the free trade pact with the United States has fallen through, Rep. Ahn Sang-soo, the floor leader of the Grand National Party, said, “The National Assembly is in a state of paralysis. United New Democratic Party leader Sohn Hak-kyu had claimed he would vote for the deal, but is now going back on his word.” However, the majority United New Democratic Party says there is no reason to vote on the deal ahead of legislative approval in the United States, making it difficult for the National Assembly to agree to vote on the deal in February.

Rep. Choi Jae-seong, a spokesman for the UNDP, said, “While our party’s basic stance is to support the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, there are many in the party who would prefer to deal with it after the U.S. government submits the deal to Congress for approval. If the U.S. Congress were to vote against it or demand renegotiation after South Korea gave its approval, it would cause problems,” Choi said.

Labor and civic organizations have waged an all-out battle to demand that the National Assembly vote against the deal, by planning a massive rally in downtown Seoul and forging an alliance with U.S. labor groups.

On the same day, Lee Suk-haeng, the leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the nation’s two umbrella labor organizations, left for the United States to seek cooperation with American labor organizations in thwarting the passage of the deal. During his visit, Lee plans to meet with Democratic Rep. Sander M. Levin, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, and other U.S. lawmakers to call on them to vote against the deal. On February 14, Lee also plans to meet with John Sweeney, the president of the AFL-CIO, the largest labor federation in the United States, and Anna Burger, the chair of the Change to Win Federation, another U.S. labor federation.

The Korean Alliance Against the Korea-U.S. FTA, an organization comprised of some 300 civic groups, held a press conference in front of the National Assembly complex. “We oppose the National Assembly vote on the free trade deal with the U.S. A public hearing, a parliamentary hearing and a parliamentary investigation should proceed swiftly,” the organization said. On February 14, the organization plans to hold a massive rally near the National Assembly complex as the parliamentary committee prepares to vote on the deal.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

GNP Feuds Over Timinig of Candidate Selection

Korea Times, January 3, 2008

By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

Rep. Park Geun-hye of the Grand National Party (GNP) Thursday urged President-elect Lee Myung-bak to start the selection of party candidates to run in the National Assembly elections in April before his inauguration on Feb. 25.

Park told reporters that the party should follow the same time schedule as the 2004 elections.

``In 2004, candidate selection started in mid-January and I assumed the party leadership after the selection was completed,'' said Park who was narrowly defeated by Lee in the party's presidential primary race last year.

Park's reaction came amid the growing discord between President-elect Lee's confidants and aides of Park over the party's schedule for candidate selection.

Lee has said the selection should come after his government reorganization plan and the nomination of key officials gets approval from the Assembly, which would be after he takes office.

His remarks triggered objections from Park and her close aides.

They said the schedule delay indicated that Lee and his followers were trying to dominate the party nominations for the parliamentary elections, party sources said.

``Rumors have it that Lee's aides created a secret task force outside the party, which has already started candidate selection,'' Rep. Yoo Seong-min said in a radio interview.

Yoo, a member of a GNP faction led by Park, said he and her other supporters felt that they should not wait until the President-elect makes a decision on the campaign schedule.

Yoo said the GNP leaders should start the selection without delay as the party platform states.

He indicated that like-minded lawmakers could take collective action if party leaders do not take follow-up measures soon.

The GNP platform states that members of its Supreme Council, the top decision-making body of the party, are entitled to make the nominations.

Rep. Kim Moo-sung joined the attack. Kim said the time overlap of the transition team activities and candidate selection was not a compelling reason for the delay.

Kim said Supreme Council members should convene a meeting to discuss the campaign schedule soon and make a decision in a transparent manner.

GNP floor leader Ahn Sang-soo, a confident of Lee, said it was inevitable for the incoming President to influence the candidate selection as his opinion should be reflected in it.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr

Impeachment Proceeding Kicks off

Korea Times, December 12, 2007

By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

An impeachment drive led by the United New Democratic Party (UNDP) targeting three prosecutors started Wednesday after the bill was presented to a National Assembly plenary session.

The party submitted the bill to impeach the prosecutors who conducted the investigation into a financial scam allegedly involving GNP presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak, Tuesday.

It claimed the prosecutors failed to properly look into the ``wrongdoings'' of Lee in their investigation into the stock price rigging scandal. This is the first time that incumbent prosecutors have faced impeachment.

No clash occurred during the session mainly because lawmakers of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) did not attend the session.

As the official impeachment proceedings have started, lawmakers will be asked to vote on the bill by Saturday. Unless the bill is approved by the deadline, the bill will automatically be removed.

GNP leaders said they decided not to join the session because the possible clash inside the parliament over the bill would cause a backlash against lawmakers, which could have a negative impact on the presidential election, a week away.

The GNP will decide how to react to the bill on Friday.

The impeachment procedure is in two steps. The Assemblymen must pass the articles of impeachment by majority on Saturday, meaning that 150 out of 299 legislators must vote for the bill.

The UNDP holds 141 parliamentary seats and therefore the party members will need to work together with minority parties to get the bill approved.

If the legislative body passes the bill, the accused will not be allowed to perform their jobs.

The Constitutional Court will decide whether or not the accused will be dismissed. The court's decision will mark the defendants' fate.

Political observers said the firing of the three prosecutors is not the ultimate goal the pro-government party is seeking. Instead, they said, UNDP leaders are trying to use the bill as a steppingstone in their drive to move an independent prosecutor bill forward.

The UNDP leaders will seek to have the bill on the independent counsel passed if they win parliamentary approval on the impeachment bill, they said.

Experts said the pro-government party would use the impeachment card as a last-minute campaign strategy to attempt a come-from-behind victory for its candidate Chung Dong-young.

UNDP lawmakers submitted the impeachment bill on Monday alleging the three prosecutors did not review pieces of evidence supporting allegations that GNP nominee Lee Myung-bak was involved in illegal business activities.

They said three prosecutors covered up the truth and even tried to fabricate evidence to produce investigation results in favor of the frontrunner.

GNP floor leader Ahn Sang-soo called the bill politically motivated.

``It is inappropriate for the pro-government party leaders to submit a bill to fire prosecutors who simply did their job in the investigation,'' Ahn said.

A prosecutor-turned-lawmaker, Ahn said the three prosecutors did not violate any laws in the investigation and therefore their behavior does not constitute an impeachable offense.

Ahn said UNDP lawmakers are politicizing the impeachment bill ahead of next year's National Assembly elections.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr