By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter

Seoul downplayed Tuesday an assertion by a top U.S. trade envoy-nominee that the Korea- U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) was unfair to American automakers and shouldn't be ratified in its current form. Officials here reaffirmed their position of ``no new negotiations,'' saying that the pact was balanced and fair.

``There's no need to put too much weight on the statement. It just came out from an American official before inauguration, and is not the official position of the U.S. government,'' said Choi Kyong-lim, director general of the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry in charge of FTA policy.

``But Korea isn't considering any renegotiations of the KORUS FTA. Should this be done, it will just mean the two countries will have to start the talks from scratch.''

The reactions came after Ron Kirk, U.S. Trade Representative (USTF) nominee, called for a renegotiation of the agreement at his confirmation hearing in the Senate Finance Committee.

``In the case of Korea, the current status quo simply isn't acceptable,'' Kirk, named by U.S. President Barack Obama as the chief trade officer, said Monday. ``The President has said, and I agree, the agreement as it is just simply isn't fair.''

The strong U.S. beef and auto lobbies are against the bilateral trade pact that was signed in 2007 but is awaiting ratification by the Korean National Assembly and the U.S. Congress.

Kirk's anti-FTA remarks are taken in the same vein as Obama's campaign pledge to oppose what he called a badly flawed agreement due to an imbalance in auto trade, when he has asked then President George W. Bush to seek renegotiation. In the third and last presidential debate broadcast live last October, he opposed the FTA because he said it was unfair on auto trade.

Also at Monday's hearing, a senator requested that Korea fully open its market to shipments of beef from cattle of all ages.

``Then, properly, I believe that the FTA could serve as a cornerstone of a broader economic agenda that embraces the dynamism of Asia,'' said Sen. Max Baucus, the Democrat representative from Montana.

Seoul has consistently turned down any possibility of responding to such requests for amending the KORUS FTA. Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said in January that ``no such proposals have been given from Washington about the deal,'' and ``renegotiations, rationally, can't be a proper solution.''

Seoul analysts said the government needs to keep an eye on what Kirk does, not what he says.

``The remark should be translated as advocating the Democratic government's basic stance, an extension of the Democratic principle,'' said Choi Nak-gyoon, a senior research fellow of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. ``What counts is his actions after inauguration, which will be probably done in collaboration with other federal departments.''

Both the government and local experts shared the consensus of the urgency for the National Assembly to ratify the pact as soon as possible.

``Under whatever situation, the National Assembly's ratification is a top priority,'' Choi said. ``Further delay could leave the United States more room for arguments on the renegotiation.''

South Korea, the world's 14th largest economy, is the seventh largest goods trading partner of the United States. The deal is the biggest trade agreement the United States has made in nearly 15 years.

Once put into action, the pact is expected to add at least $10 billion to U.S GDP and increase exports to South Korea by $10-11 billion annually, according to the International Trade Commission, an independent U.S. federal agency.

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr