The National Assembly has ratified long-delayed agreements that South Korea signed with nine rice exporter countries at a plenary session on Nov. 23, amid intense protests from the progressive Democratic Labor Party, other lawmakers and farmers.

For the ratification the nation has had to go through the long throes for 11 months since it had signed deals with the United States and eight other countries last December.

"Passing the bill was something like extracting a decayed tooth but the thought of farmers protesting severely against it made me uneasy," an official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MOAF) said.

Of 223 lawmakers who cast their ballots, 139 voted for the bill, while 61 voted against it. The remaining 23 were declared invalid.

Under the bill, Seoul will raise its rice import quota to 7.96 percent from the current 4 percent by 2014 in return for a 10-year grace period for the full opening of the local rice market. The minimum import amount of rice will increase from some 200,000 tons to 400,000 tons in the next 10 years.

South Korea is also required to permit up to 30 percent of the imported rice to be sold directly to domestic consumers by 2010.


A choice that cannot be avoided

Earlier in the day after the rice import bill was ratified, Democratic Labor Party (DLP) leader Kwon Young-ghil held a news conference in front of the Assembly building, reiterating his party's demand that the floor vote take place after the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s ministerial meeting which ended on Dec.18 in Hong Kong.

However, the nation would have been forced to open the rice market in full if the bill was not passed this year. Otherwise, the nation's exports will be seriously curtailed due to sanctions from the international community through the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"We had no choice but to pass the bill as failure to do so before the end of the year would have brought a tariff system that would have opened the market entirely to foreign rice as well as a possibility that some countries might have filed a complaint with the WTO on the issue," Rep. Kim Boo-kyum of the Uri Party, said.

"It's heartbreaking (to ratify the bill) for all of us. But, we should admit that we can no longer delay the bill," Assembly Speaker Kim Won-ki said after the vote.

He also added, "As discussions on special measures are underway to help the difficulties faced by the nation's farmers, I hope the ruling and opposition parties will cooperate on alternative plans for farmers… As a tripartite committee comprising of the government, Assembly and farmers' associations will be formed, we should all make an effort for the future of the nation's farming industry."

Supported by rice farmers and other civic activists, the progressive Democratic Labor Party once blocked the bill from being passed as all of their legislators interrupted the committee's attempts. Behind them were also some lawmakers of the ruling Uri Party and the main opposition Grand National Party who were elected in rural regions, showing they place their personal interests ahead of national interests.

They also invoked the parliamentary right to investigate the state affairs, insisting that there was a secret deal in rice negotiations. However, the inspection that continued for 35 days ended without a particular conclusion.


Full opening of the rice market delayed for another 10 years

The governing party concluded that there was no secret deal and it was inevitable that some concessions had to be made to delay the full opening of the rice market for another 10 years.

However, the opposition party denounced the international agreements as "under-the-table" deals for the full-scale opening of the rice market to foreign countries, saying that the government made a secret deal in an elusive way.

"It is understandable that farmers staged severe protests against the wider opening of the rice market because it is thought to further erode their livelihoods due to a flood of cheaper foreign produce that is feared to significantly lower consumer rice prices here," a government official said.

"However, the National Assembly's ratifying agreements with the nine major rice exporting countries is expected to better serve national interests as South Korea can now avoid the WTO's punitive regulations without the full opening of the local rice market to foreign products," he added.


Following is the list of this year's top 10 policy news items, selected by the Government Information Agency and placed in the order of its importance.