S. Korean lawmakers brawl over US free trade pact

S. Korean lawmakers brawl over US free trade pact

news.yahoo.com

Brawling South Korean lawmakers tried to sledgehammer their way into a parliamentary meeting room barricaded by the ruling party as the National Assembly descended into chaos Thursday over a free trade agreement with the United States.

The pact is the largest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement...

Opponents counter that it will cause pain to key sectors in both nations — agriculture in South Korea and automobiles in the United States....

(visit the link for the full news article)

Two things to discuss:

1. The "ruling party" in the S. Korean government (Grand National Party - GNP) wanted to introduce this bill to congress. In order to do this, they locked the doors to the floor of the National Assembly, barricaded the entrance with desks/chairs/furniture, and used a fire hose to keep out the opposition. Democracy?

2. The US/S.Korea Free Trade Agreement. Proponents say it will boost the trade between the two countries by $20B. Opponents say it will harm S.Korean farmers and US auto makers. What do you think?



news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 18-12-2008 by kawz1]

Well... keep in mind that in our own country, we had the entirety of the democratic party of the Texas senate leave the state to avoid a vote on re-districting.


it was obvious that the lawmakers did make it through the door into the session.


My question is this.... Is this normal political theater in Korea?


Of course, as an American this is wild to me. But for most Koreans this might just be part of how things get done.

I would hardly call it normal, but it is far from unheard of in their corner of the world. I lived there briefly and found that their political processes are a tad more emotional and 'human' than ours.

But then, who knows what this means to them? I wonder how our own auto industry moguls feel about this legislation?

Well, I wouldn't call this "normal" by any means. However, physical confrontations do occur in many Asian Congresses/Parliaments. Not regular occurrences, but not so rare as to be shocking.

Personally, I believe the actions of the GNP to be very childish and underhanded. They should have introduced the bill just like any other bill. If they felt the heat from the opposition, they should have worked to garner support, not try to quite literally extinguish this opposition with barricades and fire hoses.

As a Korean-American, I find myself conflicted. I love both countries but I tend to notice that the Korean government has done a lot of bending over for the US government, and this is not necessarily with the support of the people. Protests are VERY common in South Korea and for good reason. The people's voices are not being heard and I think this trade agreement is another example of the deaf ears that belong to these lawmakers/politicians.