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Subscribe to RSSA South Korean opposition leader fired tear gas amid ratification of a trade deal with the U.S. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
Yonhap News Television via EPA
Representative Kim Seon-dong of South Korea's opposition Democratic Labor Party explodes a tear gas canister in front of the speaker's chair to block the National Assembly's Vice Speaker Chung Eui-hwa from pushing for the procedure to handle a pending bill on ratification of a Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) on November 22, in Seoul, South Korea.
Jo Yong-Hak / Reuters
Lawmaker Kim Seon-dong, center, struggles with security guards after he detonated the tear gas canister.
The AP reports from SEOUL, South Korea:
South Korea's parliament ratified a long-stalled free trade deal with the United States on Tuesday after ruling party lawmakers forced a vote amid shouts and shoves from opposition rivals.
YNA via EPA
Kim Seon-dong (out of frame) explodes a tear gas canister in front of the speaker's chair to block ratification of the agreement.
South Korean lawmakers voted 151 to 7 in favor of ratifying the landmark trade agreement in a surprise legislative session called by the ruling Grand National Party, parliamentary officials said.
Shouts filled the National Assembly as lawmakers pushed, shoved and screamed while ruling party lawmakers forced their way onto the parliamentary floor. One opposition lawmaker fired tear gas, reports said. Some lawmakers were seen wiping their eyes after being doused with the chemical.
Security guards later manhandled that opposition lawmaker out of the chamber as he shouted and tried to resist being thrown out. Opposition members also scuffled with police outside the National Assembly building as they tried to get inside to block the deal's passage.
The pact is America's biggest free-trade agreement since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. Two-way trade between South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, and the United States totaled about $90 billion last year, according to the South Korean government.
Lawmakers have been wrangling over ratification of the free trade deal since U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama approved the deal last month after years of divisive debate in the U.S. Continue reading.
Ahn Yopung-Joon / AP
National Assembly Vice Speaker Chung Eui-hwa, second from top left, wearing glasses, declares the passage of a bill on ratification of a South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement amid shouts and shoves from opposition rivals.
Previously on PhotoBlog:
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An overdone-
Opinion.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could open a canister of tear gass in wallstreet? Let them know what it feels like. Oh and in congress too.
Maybe a canister of emesis-inducing vapor? Even better, one that produces instant diarrhea - this way, what comes out of either end matches up nicely.
I think it's really, really sad that I have to say this:
As bad as our congress is... at least no Congressmen have fired tear-gas into the crowd of lawmakers. :\
Although I'm not sure how far certain sides of Congress will sink to get a vote...
You gotta love it !!
The europeans have fist fight in parliament and the koreans throw teargas . Maybe we should drop stink bombs on congress . It would be kinda fun . But hard to tell which congress is choking on Their own BS or the stink.
Someone give that guy a lude.
WOW - I thought our own lawmakers were a bunch of dysfunctional a-holes.
As bad as our congress is... at least no Congressmen have fired tear-gas into the crowd of lawmakers.
Maybe someone should
Wow! And thousands of Americans lost their lives (during the Korean War) making S.Korea the prosperous democratic country that it is today.
Had we not gotten involved with Korea, it probably would have been like the North; no Hyundais to export.
If only our congressman would fight for what they believed in than we would NOT be in this situation.
Look at the positive side of the deal...now more U.S. workers can be "free" of their jobs...
Isn't that what "free trade" is...we trade away our jobs in order to be free of them? Ironic, isn't it? The true meaning of free trade is contained within the words themselves...
"I think it's really, really sad that I have to say this:
As bad as our congress is... at least no Congressmen have fired tear-gas into the crowd of lawmakers. :\
Although I'm not sure how far certain sides of Congress will sink to get a vote..."
Our Congress is the worst, I would welcome teargas if most of them could work together on something.
"WOW - I thought our own lawmakers were a bunch of dysfunctional a-holes."
They are.
North Korea, China, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, South Africa and many countries using tear gas on their innocent and defenseless people all the time. Brutality and stupid is a painful reality, especially from the same people who suppose to protect and serve. It keeps getting worse.
This is only a small incident in Korea and we feel terrible. Unlike other countries, Justice will be serve and nobody is above the law in Korea.
And at the end of the day, a bill actually got signed into law.
I'd love to trade Congresses with South Korea.
Entertaining and they got the job done to boot!
Trade deals are notoriously designed to benefit large corporations but in the end tend to effect general populations negatively. Corporations are the ones who the government consult when drafting trade agreements so of course they are designed to benefit themselves at any cost. And if we think a corporation is going to be altruistic and look out for the interests of their countrymen then we don't understand the corporation. Our lawmakers are interest in higher GDP, it doesn't seem to matter to them if all the wealth is held by a small minority while the rest of us go down the road of poverty. Higher GDP is a myth. I commend this Korean parlimentarian for the bravery and courage it took to commit this political suicide.
I was disappointed that the superficial article concentrated on the incident rather than coverage as to the reasoning behind the delays and your post 2.2 on 11/22 @7:52 was the first one to comment on WHY the altercation may have happened rather than just WHAT happened...congratulations.
Corporations have no alliegance, by and large, to any country and will always move to where they are treated more favorably. Unfortunately, corporations can easily afford lobbyists (average salary over $300K per influence peddler and we have over 35,000 registered here in the USA alone according to a recent article) to influence legislators. The general population, on the other hand, employs no such means and therefore only has insignificant influence. Therein lies the problem.
How true! Maybe we should send some of these guys over and have them work on the deficit reduction committee. A few tear gas bombs, some butt kicking, and we'd have an agreement.
Perhaps we can export to them all our pepper spray wielding cops if Representative Kim Seon-dong requests *grins*
.
it could happen in the US with the tear gas.I would like to see who's going to use it.
What things going on right now in our country, it might happen(or even worse)
At least they accomplished something. Maybe we should gas our congress when it looks like things are slowing down.
We should give our Congress laughing gas, not tear gas.
Indecently brilliant. Screw the fillabusters...bring on the gas!
Looks like the only thing our children in congress can agree on it off shoring more jobs from the U.S. under the lie of "free trade".
Most people don't get it, trade agreements are bad for general populations. It's good you can see the truth beneath the deception.
When the Headline read "Tear Gas fired at Congress" I had hope it was in our Congress but sadly it was not
NAFTA destroyed the American economy! I don't blame them for getting upset.
It's true. The funniest thing about it is that the leftists are always bemoaning the shrinking of the middle class, and blaming the off-shoring of American jobs on the Republicans, when it was Bill Clinton (Democrat) who signed NAFTA into law, and the Democrats who are constantly pushing the new regulations and taxes that continues to drive out more business.
machinehead - both parties own it, and the quicker we all stop the BS of blaming the opposite side, the faster we can get this BS fixed.
Clinton signed it into law, but the republicans crafted it under Bush Sr.
there have not been any NEW TAXES that have driven out business, if anything taxes keep going lower. so if they keep going lower, why do businesses keep getting driven out?
Most corporations that offshore their production, are doing so to avoid the heavy cost of healthcare + wages...has nothing to do with taxation. the simplest mind in america can grasp this...
Agreed machinehead but it has been in effect for over a decade now. Neither party has done anything about it other than try to blame the other. Quit blaming, it does nothing.
Put a term on our politicians and DONT VOTE just to vote. Don't vote for the lesser evil. Save your votes for someone that deserves it. We need to quit accepting the BS from ALL of the crooks (congress) and stop voting for them.
And it was Reagan who proposed NAFTA. The destruction of America seems to be the only thing the two parties can agree on.
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/1993/11/em371-the-north-american-free-trade-agreement
I would say trade agreements help a corporation to offshore. With lowered, to no, tarrifs applied to imports why wouldn't they go to a cheaper labor market. The way to keep businesses here is to keep the tarrifs in place so that the cost of importing is too high. Right now America, the West, is a corporations consumer demographic but that's because we had jobs that paid well and we had disposable income. As our income is eaten up by mortgages, energy costs, insurance all the disposable income dries up and we are no longer the consumer demographic. With globalization that doesn't really worry a corporation because by the time they such all our money up they'll be able to move to the next consumer hot spot. We need to guarantee well paying job so that we can also remain the consumer demographic. I am conservative so talking about unionizing Wal-Mart and the like might seem out of place. But I see, that if we don't guarantee higher pay, so that we have disposable income, we'll be relegated to poverty if we don't do something of the sort.
repost
Guaranteeing wages means more government intervention. How about if we reduce the size of government, vaporize the tax code and stop allowing unions to force people to join. We'll become more competitive that way which is the opposite of what is happening now with growing government, ever so complicated tax codes and forced union memnbership as well as stupidly high minimum wages dictated by government. These are some of the many reasons we have lost our competitive edge.
I think unionizing the retail sector, which recieves 65%(?) of the GDP, would guarantee we can afford to remain the consumer base. While we are steam rolled into menial, low-paying jobs by colluding corporations and politicians, we won't remain a consumer base for too much longer. Not to mention the disparity between the average retail employee and their corporate CEO is astonishing. It looks like exploitation to me.
Oh, those wacky Koreans....
You don't Know nothing. shut Up Punk
JUst what the U.S. needed to send more jobs over seas
"South Korean lawmaker fires tear gas in parliament amid anger at US trade pact"
They, (all sides of Parliament) need to take a "breather"! Hee-he!
Tear gas! lol
Nothing says "I'm right! Support my side!" like a canister of tear gas to the face. Hallmark should be making these.
Their Politicians have something ours don't ... Passion!
And tear gas. At least I hope most of our politicians don't. I guess you never know...
Joke of the morning on a very windy day in Western Washington State:
Q. What's the difference between Boehner and Boner?
A. Although both of them are dicks, it's more difficult to bend Boehner.
LMAO,
Obviously you prefer to have bigger government, higher taxes and insovency shoved up your @#$%. I for one worship any politician that unbendingly stands behind reducing taxes and reducing the foot print of clumsy wasteful government programs.
More on topic, however, would be the suggestion that the United States outsource Congress to South Korea or Taiwan -- their arguments are much more demonstrative, and it'd kinda be fun to see someone shove a can of tear gas under the Stinker of the House's overtanned snout.
Maybe while our outsourced Congress are slapping the @!$%# out of each other, some of the real congresspeople can get off their flabby asses and freakin' do something for their salaries.
Of course, it would never work. We probably couldn't get Congress to agree on whether or not to escape a quicksand pit. Stupid upper-class twits.
Time for breakfast -- who hid my freakin' Prozac, DAMMIT!!!
Problem is our government is too huge and taxes are killing us. There is no room for compromise. Government needs to shrink and the tax codes need to be vaporized.
The U.S. Congress is so dull. There hasn't been a good fist-fight on the floor since before the Civil War, and no one has ever resorted to crowd control techniques. C-SPAN's ratings would go through the roof if we had some occasional physical combat and the use of pepper spray, and if visitors in the gallery had ready access to water cannons.
Our "exported" democracy at work :-)
And everybody thinks OUR lawmakers are disfunctional? lol!
Who's "disfunctional"? The South Korean Parliment did pass the bill! What is our Congress doing???
See now, Joseph, you're one of these people that think "passing a bill" is doing something. Legislative creep is an exponentially increasing hindrance to economic activity.
That is indeed a way to make a point, wow o.o
This is exactly what the debt supercommittee needed. Set off a tear gas in the locked room with the committee members and do not let them out until a deal has been struck.
Subject: Obama’s Historic Firsts
OBAMA says he’s the the representative for change… He’s historic, alright – Check out the changes below:
First President to refuse to show a valid Birth Certificate.
First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner
First President to have a social security number from a state he’s never even lived in
First President to Preside over a Cut to the Credit Rating of the United States Government
First President to Violate the War Powers Act
First President to Orchestrate the Sale of Murder Weapons to Mexican Drug Cartels
First President to be Held in Contempt of Court for Illegally Obstructing Oil Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico
First President to Defy a Federal Judge’s Court Order to Cease Implementing the ‘Health Care Reform’ Law
First President to Require All Americans to Purchase a Product From a Third Party
First President to Spend a Trillion Dollars on ‘Shovel-Ready’ Jobs– and Later Admit There Was No Such Thing as Shovel-Ready Jobs
First President to Abrogate Bankruptcy Law to Turn Over Control of Companies to His Union Supporters
First President to Bypass Congress and Implement the DREAM Act Through Executive Fiat
First President to “Order a Secret Amnesty Program that Stopped the Deportations of Illegal Immigrants Across the US , Including Those With Criminal Convictions”
First President to Demand a Company Hand Over $20 Billion to One of His Political Appointees
First President to Terminate America’s Ability to Put a Man into Space
First President to Encourage Racial Discrimination and Intimidation at Polling Places
First President to Have a Law Signed By an ‘Auto-pen’ Without Being “Present”
First President to Arbitrarily Declare an Existing Law Unconstitutional and Refuse to Enforce It
First President to Threaten Insurance Companies if they Publicly Speak out on the Reasons for their Rate Increases
First President to Tell a Major Manufacturing Company In Which State They Are Allowed to Locate a Factory
First President to File Lawsuits Against the States He Swore an Oath to Protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN, etc)
First President to Withdraw an Existing Coal Permit That Had Been Properly Issued Years Ago
First President to Fire an Inspector General of Ameri-corps for Catching One of His Friends in a Corruption Case
First President to Propose an Executive Order Demanding Companies Disclose Their Political Contributions to Bid on Government Contracts
First President to appoint 45 ‘czars’ to replace elected officials in his office.
First President to Golf 73 separate Times in His First Two-and-a-Half Years in Office
First President to hide his medical, educational, and travel records
First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it
First President to coddle America’s enemies while alienating America’s allies
First President to publicly bow to Americas enemies while refusing to salute the US flag
First President to go on multiple Global apology tours But remember: he will not rest until all Americans have jobs, affordable homes, green-energy vehicles, and the environment is repaired, etc, etc
First President to go on 17 ‘vacations’, including ‘date nights’ paid for by the taxpayer.
Liberals are by nature liars. The nature of their beliefs drives and sustains this tendency
Gary-I think he ought to be the first President to kick your ass and sue you for so much slander.
Also the first President to have an aunt and uncle illegally residing in the US.
Oh, we've got ourselves a real champion Kool-Aid drinker here, folks! This is the perfect post - "perfect" in the sense that every statement in it is either demonstrably, factually false, or is an opinion based upon a spectularly wrong-headed interpretation of the facts. Quite a feat.
It's only slander if it's not true. And technically it would be libel, not slander, since this is print. Just sayin'.
Man some of those loonies out there simply don't get enough time out doors. Your list is completely ridiculous and totaly motivated my partisan nonsense. Its this sort of thinking that drags down our nation. I could post a list of the many "evils" that came from the W. Bush administration. Wow, that would make everything better, right? Nope, just more crap on the internet meant to make folks angry. what a waste of time and effort. Both parties got us into many messes that the citizens have paid for. But you keep on drinking the Faux news kool-aid and vomitting their misinformation. Real evil does nont come from one president, it comes from regular people who don't do anything to make their community a better place to live. But, most people will simply laugh at you. Enjoy your day.
THX- It was only 5:00AM local time on the west coast when I wrote that and couldnt remember what the other legal term was after just crawling out of bed- but hope he got the point -tnx anyway.
Plainly he is an ASS.
Another example of how Obama gives the United States away and sticks his rotten nose in another country's business! This man needs to be impeached!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He should be impeached but that won't fix this massive problem. He is not the cause, he is just another loser trying to fix it his way.
It would have been nice to hear why they are so opposed to the agreement. Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How.... poor reporting. I am sure they have some reason worth hearing...
they hate Americans...thats their reason.
Templescroll has given a very uneducated answer to a very serious question and very serious implications. Trade deals are notoriously designed to benefit large corporations but in the end tend to effect general populations negatively. Corporations are the ones who the government consults when drafting trade agreements so of course they are designed to benefit themselves at any cost. And if we think a corporation is going to be altruistic and look out for the interests of their countrymen then we don't understand the corporation. Our lawmakers are interested in higher GDP, it doesn't seem to matter to them if all the wealth is held by a small minority while the rest of us go down the road of poverty. Higher GDP is a myth. I commend this Korean parlimentarian for the bravery and courage it took to commit this political suicide.