The South Korean Parliament on Tuesday passed a free trade bill with the United States following an opposition lawmaker detonating a tear gas bomb inside the Parliament building.
The lawmaker, Rep. Kim Sun-dong of the opposition Democratic Labor Party, threw the gas bomb near the speaker’s chair, where vice parliamentary speaker Chung Ui-hwa was sitting, reported the Yonhap News Agency. He was apprehended by police and taken out of the main chamber.
Kim threw the bomb to protest the hotly contested free trade agreement, and no injuries were reported.
The ruling Grand National Party got the support of 151 lawmakers during the vote, while only 7 voted against it and 12 abstained, reported the Korea Times newspaper.
It is the largest U.S.-backed free trade deal since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada was approved in 1994.
Local South Korean farmers and some workers have opposed the deal, saying it favors U.S. workers over them.
A spokesperson for President Lee Myung-bak’s office said, “The government will actively pursue measures for farmers and smaller business owners, which have been raised in the course of parliamentary discussions, in policies, and continue to put together measures to strengthen their competitiveness,” according to Yonhap.
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