Seoul(Xinhua) : Minister Han Duck-soo Tuesday urged the national assembly to ratify the South Korea-US free trade agreement (FTA) by the end of this year.
“The government submitted the Korea-US FTA motion to the national assembly on Sep 7 for its ratification. Two months have since passed, but the motion has yet to be put on the parliamentary agenda,” Han said while presiding over a cabinet meeting.
“The situation is very worrisome. The cabinet ministers have to make particularly greater efforts to have the national assembly approve the free trade deal,” he said, stressing that the South Korean-US FTA is the key to guaranteeing sustained growth of the country’s economy.
South Korea and the US signed a bilateral FTA deal in late June, but the legislatures of both countries must ratify the agreement before it takes effect.