South Korean farmers and lawmakers are stepping up their protest against opening the local rice market, with the deadline to reach an agreement in the rice talks just 40 days away.

More than 30 thousand angry farmers staged a massive demonstration last weekend to declare an 'all-out war' against the talks, which are aimed at lowering import barriers on rice.

On Monday, a group of ruling and opposition lawmakers delivered a letter to the U.S. and Chinese Embassies in Seoul to protest attempts to open up the South Korean rice market.

Additionally, the legislators plan to submit to the National Assembly a resolution against the opening of the local rice market.

At the 1994 Uruguay Round of multilateral trade talks, South Korea was granted a ten-year grace period during which it was allowed to keep rice imports under four percent of domestic consumption.

According to agreements struck at those negotiations, South Korea must conclude talks on the wider opening of its rice market by the end of this year.