South Korea's Foreign Minister and four other Cabinet members on Friday denounced a plan by the country's labor organization to stage a rally in the United States to protest a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
In a joint statement read by Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon at his ministry, the five ministers said the dispatch of a protest group to the United States would seriously undermine the relationship between the countries, while also causing great inconvenience for "all other" South Koreans.
"A protest expedition by certain organizations may cause inconveniences for all of our people as it may have a negative effect on our efforts to negotiate the visa-waiver program with the United States," said the statement, also signed by Deputy Prime Minister for Finance Han Duck-soo.
Other signatories were Justice Minister Chun Jung-bae, Agriculture Minister Park Hoong-soo and Labor Minister Lee Sang-soo.
The statement comes ahead of a planned rally by a group of South Korean activists to protest talks over the proposed South Korea-U.S. FTA in Washington next month.
The joint statement said it is undesirable for a handful of interest groups to entirely oppose the trade agreement, which the government says is vital to the future growth of the South Korean economy, just because the agreement is expected to provide a few difficulties or problems.
"The government also has serious concerns about the move by the anti-FTA organization to dispatch a group of protesters to the United States," it said.
"We sincerely call on the organization preparing the protest rally and their members…to immediately scrap the plan, which is damaging our national image while causing concern among the public, and to express their position and views about the (FTA) negotiations through peaceful and legitimate processes." Seoul, May 19 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea's Ministers denounce plan to protest against FTA in Washington |
