SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's major parties agreed Monday to hold a vote on a government proposal aimed at further opening the country's rice market, despite intense opposition from farmers, party officials said Monday.

To protest the moves toward further market opening, some 400 farmers took part in a largely non-violent rally Monday afternoon near the National Assembly in Seoul, police officials said.

The size of the rally was minimized by the establishment of about 70 checkpoints by police to prevent farmers from traveling to Seoul after the demonstration was designated by the authorities as illegal.

Farmers' activist groups had earlier threatened to stage a massive protest rally in front of the parliament, vowing to mobilize about 30,000 to 50,000 protesters from across the country.

The agreement on the parliamentary vote was made at a meeting of floor leaders from the ruling Uri Party and the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), vice floor leaders Oh Young-sik of the Uri Party and Na Kyong-won of the GNP said in a joint news briefing.

In accordance with World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations, South Korea signed a deal with the United States and eight other rice-exporting countries late last year to raise its rice import quota to 7.96 percent of its domestic consumption by 2014 from the current 4 percent in return for a 10-year grace period in the introduction of tariffs on rice imports.

The vote on the ratification has been delayed by fierce opposition from farmers and some lawmakers. They claim the deal would threaten their livelihoods because it allows for the direct sale of cheaper imported rice to consumers.

But the ruling Uri Party wants the matter settled as soon as possible, claiming that failure to implement the deal will undermine South Korea's international credibility.

If the motion is put to a vote, it is likely to be passed. The two parties control an outright majority of 271 seats in the 299-member unicameral National Assembly.

In an apparent effort to mollify angry farmers, Uri Party floor leader Chung Se-kyun and his GNP counterpart Kang Jae-sup instructed the government to submit to parliament early next year a set of measures to help the local farming sector.

A floor vote, however, is expected to meet fierce opposition from lawmakers from rural districts and the progressive Democratic Labor Party, which has tried to physically block the parliamentary process in the past.

In front of the National Assembly, riot police were gearing up for possible clashes with farmers. During the violent rally by local farmers in the same place last Tuesday, about 130 people on both sides were injured and fifty farmers were arrested for burning three police buses.

Huh Joon-young, commissioner-general of the National Police Agency, instructed police to heighten security as farmers are expected to stage a series of violent rallies this week.

The farmers' groups have vowed to prevent the ratification with all necessary measures, including burning rice plants and blocking national highways with farm machinery.

According to police, a group of 400 angry farmers temporarily blocked a section of the Seoul-Mokpo expressway in Iksan of North Jeolla Province, about 250 kilometers south of the capital. Similar blocking of roads was also reported throughout the country, they said.

Regarding other matters, the Uri Party and GNP floor leaders also agreed not to raise taxes on soju, one of the most popular distilled liquors in South Korea.

The government had attempted to raise the tax on distilled liquor, including soju, from the current 72 percent to 90 percent next year to make up for a possible revenue shortfall.


[News Source : Yonhap 0000-00-00]

Joo Sang-min