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| 5/24 |
| 2008/12/19-28 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/Korea] UID:52284 Activity:nil |
12/19 Woo-hoo! Brawl in the SK parliament!
http://csua.org/u/n5b
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/world/asia/19korea.html?em |
| 5/24 |
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| csua.org/u/n5b -> www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-brawl19-2008dec19-pg,0,3985168.photogallery?1 South Korean lawmakers brawl over US free trade pact A lawmaker from the main opposition Democratic Party takes a sledgehammer to the door of a conference room at the National Assembly in an attempt to prevent members of the ruling Grand National Party from submitting a bill to ratify a free trade deal with the US The ruling party, whose members barricaded themselves in the room, managed to formally put the bill on the agenda. Seoul and Washington signed the trade deal in June 2007, but lawmakers from both countries have yet to ratify it. |
| www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/world/asia/19korea.html?em Click Here South Korean Lawmakers Clash Over Fate of Trade Deal With US Jeon Young-Han/Agence France-Presse Getty Images Opposition lawmakers tried to enter a blockaded room in which a committee was discussing a contentious free trade deal with the United States in Seoul on Thursday. South Korea led to a confrontation on Thursday in which opposition lawmakers used a sledgehammer to knock down the doors of a blockaded room where a committee was discussing the agreement. Enlarge This Image Kim Ju-seong/Yonhap, via Reuters Members of the opposition party were sprayed with fire extinguishers from inside as they tried to enter a parliamentary committee room. Television reports showed fire extinguishers being sprayed at the opposition lawmakers who were trying to get into the room. The members of the opposition Democratic Party were trying to stop the trade agreement with the United States from advancing to the floor of South Korea's legislature, the National Assembly, for a final vote. The governing party has been seeking to ratify the trade pact by the year's end, saying it would improve South Korea's competitiveness and ties with the United States. Violent clashes in the National Assembly are not unheard of, reflecting the nation's feisty brand of democracy. The trade agreement with the United States has been a particularly thorny issue, after huge demonstrations in Seoul, the capital, this year against the import of American beef. Thursday's assault came after the opposition party had threatened to block the deal by force if necessary. Fearing an attack, members of the foreign affairs committee, under the control of the governing Grand National Party, had barricaded themselves inside the room as they met. Security guards and aides from the governing party stood outside the barricaded doors, where scuffles broke out when a dozen opposition lawmakers showed up. The opposition lawmakers then used at least one sledgehammer and crowbars to tear through the doors, only to be thwarted by piles of furniture thrown up as a second line of defense. The mayhem failed to prevent the pact from being formally introduced to the committee, a step in the process of bringing it to a full parliamentary vote. The deal to lower tariffs and other trade barriers was signed last year by negotiators from South Korea and the United States but cannot take effect until ratified by lawmakers in both nations. The pact faces stiff opposition in the United States Congress, where many lawmakers say they fear it could put struggling American automakers at a disadvantage. |