Trio of ruling party lawmakers to hold series of meetings in U.S. to pitch for FTA

SEOUL (Yonhap) - A trio of ruling party lawmakers plans to hold a series of meetings and events in the United States this week to make a pitch for the ratification of a free trade agreement, sources said Monday.
The group of three -- Reps. Nam Kyung-pil, Gu Sang-chan and Hong Jung-wook of the Grand National Party -- are leading members of the National Assembly's foreign affairs and trade committee and strong supporters of the FTA with the U.S.
The trade pact, signed in 2007 and supplemented last December, has been awaiting approval from the legislatures of the two countries. Prospects of its passage through Congress have risen in recent months as Washington has been making a push for its approval.
Upon arriving in New York on Thursday, Rep. Nam plans to attend an event organized by the Korean-American Medical Association (KAMA), an organization of doctors of Korean heritage. Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), who co-chairs the Korea Caucus of lawmakers, also plans to attend the event.
Nam plans to seek Burton's support in getting the trade deal passed through Congress. The two are also scheduled to hold a dinner meeting on Friday. Nam is also trying to set up meetings with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY).
Rep. Gu, who held talks with Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) on Saturday, plans to travel to Washington on Friday for a meeting with Sung Kim, the U.S. ambassador-designate to South Korea, to talk about the FTA and other issues between the two countries, sources said.
Rep. Hong, meanwhile, is scheduled to meet with Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) in New York on Monday, Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY) on Tuesday and Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) on Wednesday to seek their support for the trade agreement, sources said.