SEOUL: South Korea Thursday presented a sweeping free trade agreement with the European Union to parliament for ratification, two weeks after Europe's own parliament approved it. The deal signed last October is due to take effect on July 1.
Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan called for early approval after the bill was presented to parliament's foreign affairs and trade committee. "We should meet the deadline. as the European side has already approved it," he said.
The ruling Grand National Party, which has an overwhelming majority in the legislature, vowed to press for approval at the committee next Wednesday. It would then go to the full house.
But opposition legislators said they would not approve the legislation until there has been a full study of the impact on the economy.
The trade accord is the most ambitious the EU has negotiated with an outside partner, and the first with an Asian nation.
The two sides will axe 98 percent of customs duties within five years, apart from on a few Korean farm products.
The European parliament secured measures that will allow the EU to suspend cuts in customs duties if the lower rates invite an "excessive" rise in South Korean imports.
It also secured safeguards to protect Europe's auto industry from tough South Korean rules on fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions.
The EU said that the pact would more than double trade over the next 20 years.
Two-way trade in 2009 was worth 53.5 billion euros ($72.8 billion), with Korean exports mainly cars, ships, electronics and semiconductors accounting for 32 billion euros.
Early ratification would give Europe's firms a head-start over the United States in Asia's fourth largest economy.
Seoul and Washington signed a revised free trade deal last month but this needs ratification by both legislatures, and some Democrats in Congress remain opposed to it.
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