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Chosun Ilbo

A meeting of the National Assembly's Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee on Monday to review ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement was thwarted by lawmakers from the Democratic Labor Party. The session was to begin at 10 a.m., but eight DLP lawmakers including floor leader Chun Young-se occupied committee chairman Kim Won-wung's office and prevented him from leaving his office. Kim considered asking the vice committee chairmen, who are members of the United New Democratic Party and the Grand National Party, to preside over the session or asking police guards to escort him to the conference room. But he finally decided to postpone the session until Wednesday.

Lawmaker Lee Hwa-young, the vice chairman from the UNDP, said, "Some committee members contend that if the committee uses force with the help of police guards to review the Korea-U.S. FTA ratification bill amid protests from the DLP, it will make it harder for the National Assembly to pass the bill in the future. So the committee decided to postpone its review until Wednesday."

But the DLP is determined to block both the current National Assembly and the next from ratifying the FTA unless better protection for Korean farmers is guaranteed.

Cheong Wa Dae condemned the move, describing it as "incomprehensible and deplorable." The presidential office expressed hope that an extra house session in February will pass the bill, or it needs to be taken care of by March at the latest, before the general election, so that the current parliament can fulfill its duties.