Leaders of 48 civic groups hold a news conference yesterday in front of the National Assembly to urge the opposition Democratic United Party to backtrack on its pledge to scrap the free trade agreement with the United States if the party wins the presidential election. By Kim Hyung-soo

The chief policy manager of the Democratic United Party said renegotiating the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement is its main goal, not its immediate scrapping, as the largest opposition party faces public backlash over its threat to pull the plug on the treaty if it gains power.

The ruling Saenuri Party sharpened its attacks on the DUP by releasing results of a poll yesterday suggesting the majority of Koreans disapprove of the DUP’s threat.

“Coming up with an FTA that helps the national interest through renegotiations is our consistent stance,” said Lee Yong-sup, the DUP’s policy committee head, at a committee meeting held at the National Assembly yesterday.

“Our demand that the government stop the procedures to implement [the pact] is a bid to make it easier to re-renegotiate it under the next government,” he said.

The 2007 pact was signed under the Roh Moo-hyun administration and the Uri Party, a predecessor of the DUP, and then renegotiated with Washington in late 2010. It is expected to take effect as early as this month.

On Feb. 8, DUP Chairwoman Han Myeong-sook said her party would scrap the treaty upon winning power unless several “poison clauses” were modified. Since then, Han has avoided further comments on the issue.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Han responded to a question on the FTA by saying, “People should not entrust power to a political force that supports an FTA that is of no help to the working class.”

According to policy manager Lee, Han’s strong statement on Feb. 8 was meant to highlight the Lee Myung-bak administration’s refusal to demand further renegotiations with Washington. He said the party considered that scrapping the FTA would better serve the national interest than implementing it in its current form.

Representative Kwon Young-se, Saenuri’s secretary general, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency yesterday that the DUP’s opposition to the Korea-U.S. FTA is based on anti-U.S. sentiment. “There are other free trade agreements for Korea such as the Korea-EU FTA, but it only takes issue with the Korea-U.S. FTA,” Kwon told Yonhap. “Korea’s dependence on trade is enormously high, and it makes no sense that it should live with its doors shut.”

The Yeouido Institute, Saenuri’s think tank, announced yesterday the results of a survey it conducted of 3,521 adults across the country on Feb. 13, in which 50.5 percent of the respondents said that losses will be larger than gains if the Korea-U.S. FTA were abolished, while 33.2 percent said the opposite.

The survey also asked whether the opposition’s position on the FTA was desirable or not, and 56.4 percent of respondents said it wasn’t, compared to 37.4 percent who said it was.


By Moon Gwang-lip [joe@joongang.co.kr]




한글 관련 기사

"한미 FTA 폐기 → 재재협상"…후진하는 민주통합당


[앵커]

여야의 한미FTA 공방이 장군멍군입니다. 수세에 몰렸던 새누리당이 반격에 나섰고 강경했던 민주통합당은 한 발 물러서고 있습니다. 이런 가운에 일부 시민단체들이 FTA 찬반 여부를 낙천, 낙선 운동으로 연계시키고 있습니다.

이승필, 조민진 기자가 심층보도합니다.



[기자]

새누리당은 한미 FTA에 대한 여론조사 결과를 공개하며 대야 공세를 이어갔습니다.

한미FTA 폐기를 주장하는 세력에게 나라를 맡길 수 없다는 박근혜 비대위원장의 발언이 나온 지 3일 만입니다.

당의 싱크탱크인 여의도연구소 조사 결과, 한미FTA가 폐기되면 손해가 더 클 것이란 답변이 절반을 넘었고 야권의 입장 변화가 바람직하지 않다는 응답도 56%에
달했습니다.

[황영철/새누리당 대변인 : 야권의 폐기 주장과 말바꾸기 등 태도변화에 다수가 부정적이었고 폐기시 국익면에서 손해 크다고 인식하고 있었습니다.]

새누리당은 한미FTA 존폐 논란을 총선 판세를 뒤집을 절호의 기회로 보고 있습니다.

전당대회 돈봉투 사건과 정권 실세의 비리 의혹 등으로 등을 돌린 전통 지지세력을 결집하고 부동층도 흡수할 수 있을 거란 판단입니다.

지난주 미국대사관을 찾아가 정권교체 후 한미FTA를 폐기하겠다고 했던 민주통합당은 폐기보다 재재협상을 강조하며 한 발 물러섰습니다.

[이용섭/민주통합당 정책위의장 : 재협상을 통해서 국익에 도움이 되는 FTA를 만드는 것이 민주통합당의 일관되고 분명한 입장입니다.]

민주당은 한미FTA 폐기에 대한 여론의 호응이 크지 않고 당이 져야 할 부담만 가중된다고 보고 있습니다.

복지와 경제민주화 등 그동안 주도해 온 총선 이슈가 한미FTA 논란으로 묻히게 되는 것도 우려하고 있습니다.

재협상에서 폐기 그리고 다시 재재협상을 들고나온 민주당에 대해 외교통상부는 비준안 발효 이후에는 재협상 자체가 불가능하다고 밝혔습니다.

정부는 이달말이나 다음달초 비준안을 발효할 계획입니다. [JTBC]