Leaders of the opposition Democratic United Party and the Unified Progressive Party try to walk to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul yesterday to deliver a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama demanding FTA renegotiations. By Kim Hyung-soo

Opposition parties yesterday reignited the controversy over the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, formally demanding U.S. President Barack Obama renegotiate some of the terms they consider unfair - with a threat to scrap it if they win December’s presidential election.

The largest opposition Democratic United Party and the Unified Progressive Party held a joint press conference yesterday afternoon and read out a letter to Obama demanding renegotiations.

Calling the Korea-U.S. FTA unfair, the letter was signed by all 96 lawmakers of the two parties.

“If we win the December presidential election and if our demands for renegotiations are not met by that time, the Korea-U.S. FTA will be terminated by Clause 2, Article 24.5 of the agreement,” the letter read.

The parties tried to deliver the letter and two other copies - one addressed to Vice President Joe Biden, president of the U.S. Senate, and another to Speaker of the House John Boehner - to the U.S. Embassy after the press conference outside the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul.

As the groups tried to march toward the embassy, a brief scuffle took place with the police.

Article 24.5 of the agreement, which governs its coming into force and termination, states, “This Agreement shall terminate 180 days after the date either Party notifies the other Party in writing that it wishes to terminate the Agreement.” Critics of the FTA have long argued that all it takes to terminate the agreement is a presidential fax to Washington.

“If the U.S. government ignores our demand, we will do everything to scrap the FTA when we become the majority after the legislative elections,” the letter read.

“This humiliating, unpatriotic deal is impoverishing our people,” DUP Chairwoman Han Myeong-sook said at the press conference. “The letters represent the views of not only 96 representatives, but of 99 percent of working-class Koreans.”

The Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, concluded in 2007 and renegotiated with Washington in 2010, was finally ratified by the National Assembly on Nov. 22, 2011, after the ruling party blindsided opposition lawmakers with a surprise floor vote.

An opposition lawmaker set off a tear gas canister in the legislature in a vain attempt to stop its passage.

In the letters, the opposition parties listed 10 points they want renegotiated, including the removal of an investor-state dispute settlement provision.

The DUP demanded products from the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North be considered South Korean products. The party also wants safeguards for financial institutions and auto industries to be bolstered.

Earlier in the morning, DUP Chairwoman Han Myeong-sook said if the “toxic clauses” weren’t renegotiated, “We will scrap the FTA by using the authority of the new administration after winning the legislative and presidential elections.”

Han attacked the Lee Myung-bak administration for having renegotiated the deal for the worse. She said Koreans are angry about the Lee administration’s additional negotiations because the principle of fairness was violated.

“We want the government to stop all other FTA negotiations right now,” said Representative Park Jie-won, a member of the DUP Supreme Council. “I propose that the government conduct a review on the impact of the FTA provisions currently in effect and then decide whether it will go ahead with additional FTAs or not.”

Park said the government has or is negotiating FTAs with 81 countries around the world.

“Putting multiple free trade deals into force simultaneously will create enormous threats to our farmers, fishermen, small firms and mom-and-pop stores,” Park said.

The Korea-U.S. FTA will obviously be a big issue in the April legislative election campaign and the December presidential election campaign.

The liberals’ strategy resembles the presidential campaign of 1997, when candidates, including Kim Dae-jung, pledged they would renegotiate the terms of a bailout agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

At the time, the IMF forced three candidates, including Kim, to sign agreements that they would follow through with the arrangement should one of them become the president. Kim won the election.

The ruling Saenuri Party yesterday condemned the liberals’ move.

“Sending letters to the U.S. president and congressional leaders is a serious diplomatic discourtesy,” said Representative Lee Ju-young, chief policy maker of the Saenuri Party, at a press conference.

Calling their demands politically motivated, Lee said there was no precedent of the Korean government unilaterally terminating a legitimate treaty.

“The demand to scrap the Korea-U.S. FTA is an anachronistic idea,” Lee said. “We are seriously worried that it would damage the Korea-U.S. alliance and ruin Korea’s standing in the international community.”

Lee also reminded the liberals that the free trade deal with the United States was first initiated by President Roh Moo-hyun, a liberal, and Han promoted it when she served in the Roh government as prime minister.

“Denying the key policy of a liberal administration to attract votes is a clear admission that the liberals are irresponsible political forces,” Lee said. “They are bringing distrust upon themselves.”

According to DUP sources, the letter addressed to the U.S. leaders was drafted by Nam Hee-sob, a patent lawyer who served as an advisor to the DUP’s committee against the FTA and the Korea Alliance Against the Korea-U.S. FTA, a coalition of about 300 civic groups.

“The letter was based on what was discussed deeply in the opposition parties’ policy consultation,” Nam said. “Because the United States has not shown any response to the opposition parties’ repeated demands while going ahead with the process of implementing the FTA, we have decided to send the letter.”

Sources from the two parties said the idea of sending the letter to Obama first originated from the civic groups’ alliance.

An aide to Representative Chung Dong-young, who heads the DUP’s committee against the FTA, said the alliance presented the idea and the two parties reviewed it and agreed.

While the committee led the effort in the DUP, Representative Lee Jung-hee, head of the Unified Progressive Party, led the initiative in her party, the source said.



By Ser Myo-ja, Kang In-sik [myoja@joongang.co.kr]


한글 관련 기사

야권이 오바마에게 보낸 서한… 실질적 'FTA 폐기 예비통보'

대선 이기면 한·미 FTA 폐기… 민주당, 오바마에게 공개서한

야권이 이번 대선에서 집권하면 한·미 자유무역협정(FTA)을 폐기하겠다는 내용의 공개서한을 버락 오바마 미국 대통령에게 보냈다. 포괄적인 재협상이 관철되지 않으면 폐기하겠다는 조건을 달았지만, 미국 측이 받아들이기 어려운 요구사항이어서 ‘폐기 예비통보’나 마찬가지다. 향후 선거국면에서 한·미 FTA 폐기를 최대 이슈로 부각시키겠다는 의도로 풀이된다.

　민주통합당과 통합진보당은 8일 오후 지도부와 소속 의원 96명 전원의 명의로 된 서한을 공개하고 주한 미국 대사관에 전달했다. 한·미 FTA 이행법안을 비준한 미 의회의 상원의장(조 바이든 부통령)과 하원의장(존 베이너)에게도 같은 내용의 서한을 보냈다.

　양당은 서한에서 “12월 대선에서 우리가 승리하고 그때까지 우리가 제시한 재협상안이 관철되지 않으면 협정문 24.5조 2항에 따라 한·미 FTA는 종료될 것”이라고 밝혔다. 또 “우리의 (재협상)요구를 미국 정부가 간과한다면 다가오는 총선에서 여소야대가 실현될 경우 한·미 FTA 폐기를 위한 모든 조치를 취할 것”이라고도 했다.

　정부는 이에 대해 우리나라의 국제적 신뢰를 결정적으로 해치는 행위라고 비판했다. 조병제 외교통상부 대변인은 성명을 내고 “우리 정부는 지금까지 정당한 절차와 합법적으로 체결된 조약을 일방적으로 폐기한 사례가 없다”며 “한·미 FTA 폐기 주장은 한·미 양국 간 우호협력 관계 및 우리나라에 대한 국제사회의 신뢰를 훼손시킬 수 있다”고 밝혔다. 협상을 주도했던 김종훈 전 통상교섭본부장도 “코미디 같은 얘기”라며 “표가 된다고 판단해서 그러는 듯한데 우리의 국제관계 전반에 악영향을 미치는 일”이라고 말했다.

　이미 발효된 한·EU FTA는 놔두고 한·미 FTA만 문제 삼은 것은 선거철에 또다시 반미감정을 자극해 야권결집의 지렛대로 삼으려는 전략이라는 분석이 나온다. 실제 이정희 통합진보당 공동대표는 이날 “야당의 가장 중요한 공조 행보가 한·미 FTA 발효 중단으로 모아질 것을 기대하고, 그렇게 열심히 해 나가겠다”며 반(反)FTA를 야권 공조의 핵심으로 규정했다. 또 한명숙 민주통합당 대표는 “이 서한은 99%의 우리나라 국민의 한을 담은 서한”이라며 “총선승리와 정권교체로 새롭게 만들어질 정부는 새누리당과 이명박 정부를 심판하는 힘을 모아 만들어질 것”이라고 말했다. 이날 양당이 요구한 10가지 재협상 항목은 ▶투자자·국가 소송제도(ISD) 폐기 ▶서비스 자유화 대상 축소 ▶주요 농축산 품목의 관세 폐지 유보 등이다.(중앙일보)