Gov't, ruling party agree to try to pass Korea-U.S. FTA in June

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- The government and the ruling party have agreed to try to pass South Korea's free trade agreement with the United States through a parliamentary committee next month, an official said Friday.
"There is no disagreement between the government and the party on the necessity of the Korea-U.S. FTA," a senior presidential official said. "Our views have converged on introducing (the agreement) before the parliamentary foreign affairs and trade committee in June."
South Korea will then wait and see how the corresponding process in the U.S. goes, rather than hurrying to pass it through a plenary session for final approval, the official said.
The trade agreement, signed in 2007 and supplemented last December, has been awaiting approval from the legislatures of the two countries. The U.S. government has recently been making a push to get the deal to pass through Congress.
South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party is opposed to the agreement, claiming the deal is unbalanced in favor of the U.S. and calling for renegotiation.