Some 170 judges nationwide are planning to urge the Supreme Court to establish a task force to study whether the Korea - U . S . Free Trade Agreement is unbalanced and infringes on the rights of Koreans . The team will be aimed at drawing up guidelines for possible renegotiation with the U . S . , which President Lee Myung - bak promised ahead of the pact ’ s ratification on Nov . 22 . According to media reports , Judge Kim Ha - neul of the Incheon District Court has started writing a petition to file with the Chief Justice Yang Sung - tae to establish the study group . He is reportedly planning to meet Yang in the near future . In the petition , he is to deliver the concerns of 170 or more judges and say that the judiciary needs to study the content to ease public antipathy . The FTA has been denounced by opposition political parties as well as civic groups and unions . They have been holding rallies , mainly in central Seoul , calling for the reversal of the agreement ’ s ratification since it passed the National Assembly without the presence of opposition parties . “ The Korea - U . S . FTA is a legal contract . It is the court ’ s job to seek whether a certain contract is fair or not . If there is any unfairness in the agreement , we should clarify it and table it for the renegotiation , ” Kim wrote in his article posted last Thursday on the court intranet . His remarks have spurred the judge ’ s class action . Kim also argued that the controversial clause on investor - state dispute settlement is highly likely to be detrimental to Korea as it could pose a threat to the autonomy of the Korean judiciary . “ If the court could point out things to be mentioned and worked at the renegotiation table , I believe public anxiety and antipathy toward the administration will be settled and the society will be harmonized once again , ” he wrote . Kim was the latest judge to voice objections to the FTA . Fellow Incheon District Court Judge Choi Eun - bae wrote on his Facebook account : “ I will not forget the day when the president and trade officials who are pro - American to the bone sold out the nation ’ s economy and people , ” right after the pact was ratified . Judge Lee Jeong - lyeol of the Changwon District Court also said in a radio show that the pact is likely to cause friction within the country since it allows foreign investors to sue the Korean government through a third - party court . “ It deprives the Korean judiciary of the right to judge our own affairs , ” he said . Still , whether Kim and his peers ’ request will be accepted is questionable , observers say . Yang , considered rather conservative , has repeatedly asked judges to remain neutral over politically sensitive issues to maintain the authority of the judiciary . Despite the Supreme Court ’ s ethics committee ’ s decision not to discipline judges who have expressed their opinions through private media , Yang on Friday said , “ Judges should be always extra careful in what they say . ” By Bae Ji - sook ( baejisook @ heraldm . com )