By Oh Young-jin
Staff Reporter

Korea has dug in its heels and vowed not to budge from its stance of not allowing any renegotiations of its free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States ahead of next week's trade ministers' meeting in Washington.

In a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Thursday, chief FTA negotiator Lee Hae-min said, ``It has been and will be our firm position that no contents agreed by the two countries should be changed in any format, whether through renegotiations or additional talks.''

Lee's briefing came a week before the meeting between Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, May 14. It will be the first senior trade meeting between the two countries since President Obama took office.

``We will discuss a whole range of bilateral trade issues through the Kim-Kirk meeting,'' Lee explained about the agenda. ``The top priority is the ratification of Korea-U.S. agreement or KORUS FTA.''

The FTA with the U.S. needs approval at the National Assembly, already having cleared the subcommittee and committee meetings led by the governing Grand National Party. The ruling party is expected to push the bill through in June.

The Democrat-controlled U.S. Congress is less than forthcoming with the FTA, especially paying heed to the strong lobby of its automotive industries. In his confirmation hearing, Kirk indicated his intention to tinker with the FTA agreement before submitting it to Congress, although he took a less confrontational tone later.

Kirk said recently that he will seek ``new solutions'' to the pending FTA with Korea before bringing it to Congress, indicating Washington's hope to bring the Korean market to a fuller opening to U.S. beef and U.S. automobiles.

Chief negotiator Lee said that KORUS FTA has been pushed back on the U.S. congressional docket, expecting that action on the U.S.-Panama FTA will come before trade pacts with Colombia and Korea are dealt with.

Meanwhile, Korea's new U.S. Ambassador, Han Duck-soo, repeated the Seoul government's stance that Korea will not renegotiate the pending free trade agreement with the U.S., although it is ready to discuss U.S. complaints on auto and beef provisions.

"We have no intention of reopening already-concluded agreements," Han told reporters after meeting with U.S. congressmen at the Capitol. However, he said the Seoul government will discuss the ``real contents of the complaints'' that serve as stumbling blocks to the ratification of the agreement, signed in 2007.

Han told the New Democratic Coalition, a group of U.S. congressmen that supports the FTA's ratification, that Seoul will make efforts to address U.S. concerns over auto and other provisions without renegotiations, according to a South Korean diplomat here.

foolsdie@koreatimes.co.kr