Thousands of South Korean farmers shouting "Protect our Livelihood!" rallied Tuesday in protest at the ruling party's move to seek parliamentary approval of a free trade deal with the United States. The farmers, wearing red headbands and rice sacks, gathered near parliament chanting "Don't ratify FTA!" Police estimated their number at around 10,000.

 

The pact signed by Seoul and Washington last year awaits approval by legislatures in both countries. The ruling Grand National Party has vowed to push for ratification this year in hopes of pressing Congress also to move swiftly. US president-elect Barack Obama has called the deal "badly flawed" and said it does too little to narrow a huge imbalance in the auto trade in Seoul's favour.

 

The farmers also called for larger state subsidies and swift steps to reduce high fertiliser prices and feed costs for cattle. South Korea has protected its rice market to support the farmers, allowing imports of only seven percent of total consumption last year.

 

But many are suffering from chronic debts due to a steady drop in the country's overall rice consumption. Official data showed this dropped to 3.79 million tons in 2007 from 4.15 million tons in 2002 as tastes changed. The farmers nevertheless produced 4.84 million tons of rice this year, up 9.9 percent from 4.41 million tons a year earlier. State warehouses are packed with unsold rice. The farmers also demanded the government fire thousands of public servants who allegedly have received state subsidies payable to farmers to offset the partial opening of the market.