By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter


The ruling and opposition parties agreed Monday to vote on a bill tomorrow to ratify rice import deals that the government signed with nine foreign countries, despite severe opposition from farmers.

The agreement was made at a meeting of floor leaders of the ruling Uri Party and the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) at the National Assembly in Seoul.

``The two sides have agreed to table the rice import bill on the plenary Assembly session Wednesday,’’ Rep. Oh Young-sik of the ruling party said in a briefing.

To minimize damage to Korean farmers the National Assembly will ask the government to draw up alternatives to support farmers by early next year in line with changing trends in global trade and make efforts to legalize the measures, he said.

The Assembly has failed to handle the bill since last June due to objections from the progressive Democratic Labor Party (DLP) and farmers’ organizations. They denounce the international agreements as ``under-the-table’’ deals for the full-scale opening of the rice market to foreign products.

A floor vote is expected to meet fierce opposition from lawmakers from rural districts and the DLP. But the bill is likely to be approved as the two major parties control an outright majority of 271 seats in the 299-member Assembly. The DLP has nine seats.

In accordance with the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s regulations, South Korea signed deals with the United States and eight other countries last December to increase access to the country’s rice market to 7.96 percent of domestic consumption by 2014. The current rice import quota is 4 percent.

The accords also call on South Korea to permit up to 30 percent of the imported rice to be sold directly to domestic consumers by 2010. In return, South Korea was given a 10-year waiver on full ratification of market liberalization, which is based on the 1996 Uruguay Round agreement.

The DLP and farmers’ organizations vowed to thwart the passage of the rice import bill by employing every possible means.

``If the two parties push for the bill’s passage without engaging in further negotiations with DLP and farmers, we cannot help taking strong steps to block the move, even by using physical means,’’ said DLP vice floor leader Sim Sang-jong.

Rep. Kang Ki-kab of the DLP has been staging a hunger strike for the 26th consecutive day Monday at the Assembly hall to protest the bill.

Some 400 participated in a largely non-violent rally Monday afternoon near the Assembly in Seoul, calling for the agreements to be scrapped and a new deal to be made that will better protect the rice market from imports.

Farmers’ groups planned to stage a massive rally of up to 50,000 protestors in front of the Assembly, but the size was minimized by the establishment of about 70 checkpoints by police to interdict farmers traveling to Seoul.

Earlier in the day Huh Joon-young, commissioner-general of the National Police Agency, directed a high-level security move to block a possible demonstration that could lead to a bloody clash between police and protesters like the one on Tuesday.

Last Tuesday, thousands of South Korean farmers were involved in a bloody clash with riot police in Yoido. During the violent rally, about 130 police and protestors were injured and 50 farmers were arrested for burning three police buses.

About 2,000 farm activists, many of whom took part in the rally, reportedly plan to travel to Hong Kong next month to protest during a meeting of trade ministers from around the world.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr