New labor union head vows continued anti-FTA protests

The new head of South Korea's leading labor union vowed Monday his organization will continue to protest free trade talks between Seoul and Washington.

The free trade talks, launched eight months ago, have entered the home stretch in a race against time. Under U.S. President George W. Bush's "fast-track" trade promotion authority which expires in July, U.S. officials must submit a deal by April 2 for a congressional review.

The talks have also met strong opposition from South Korean farmers and workers, who argue that a free trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S. will take a disastrous toll on their livelihoods.

"We will expand the anti-FTA movement into a struggle that involves all people across the nation," Lee Seok-haeng, president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, told a news conference in Seoul.

Seen as a moderate, Lee took the helm of the union in Saturday's election, spurring expectations of better relationships with the government and corporate management.

Lee's union claims a membership of 760,000 workers nationwide and is one of the two leading umbrella unions in the country, along with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions.

Seoul, Jan. 29 (Yonhap News)