Melee breaks out in South Korea over U.S. free trade deal

SEOUL, South Korea — A melee broke out between rival South Korean politicians after the chairman of a parliamentary committee approved a proposed free trade agreement with the United States on Wednesday.

Park Jin, chairman of the National Assembly's foreign affairs and trade committee, announced his committee passed the trade pact, despite frantic efforts by opposition members to physically disrupt the session.

"I declare that the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement is approved," said Park, surrounded by angry opposition lawmakers who oppose the deal and reacted with pushes and shoves.

The accord — the largest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement in the 1990s and the biggest ever for South Korea — requires ratification by lawmakers in both countries to take effect.

So far there has been little movement toward ratification in the United States. At the Group of 20 summit in London earlier this month, President Barack Obama told South Korean President Lee Myung-bak that he understood there were difficulties with the deal on both sides, but wanted to "make progress" on it, according to officials.

The agreement, which calls for slashing tariffs and other barriers to trade, was to be sent to the South Korean parliament's plenary session for final approval. The session was set for April 29 and 30 but that could change depending on negotiations between rival parties.

Yonhap news agency, however, quoted ruling Grand National Party floor leader Hong Joon-pyo as saying his party has no intention to seek parliamentary ratification during the current session that ends on April 30.

Hong said the conservative GNP would seek to ratify the trade accord after seeing the results of a possible summit between South Korea and the U.S. in June, Yonhap reported.

Park invoked his authority as chairman to pass the accord without a vote after asking committee members if anyone opposed its passage amid a fierce shoving match between ruling and opposition members.

Opposition lawmakers accused Park of "unilaterally" passing the deal without a formal debate.

The passage is "fundamentally invalid," the main liberal opposition Democratic Party said in a statement. "It's nothing but the giant ruling party's arrogant behavior ignoring public sentiments."

South Korea and the U.S. signed the agreement in 2007, but the ratification process has been slow amid opposition in both countries.

Proponents in both countries say it would not only expand trade but further cement ties between Washington and Seoul — key security allies who have cooperated on issues such as North Korea for decades.

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

"The assessment on the effect of the free trade deal amid the global economic crisis and measures on how to deal with the pact's possible damage should be formulated," the South Korean opposition party statement said.

The GNP said in a statement that the free trade deal would make a "positive contribution" to resolve the current economic difficulties facing South Korea.