South Korean Ambassador to Washington Lee Tae-sik Wednesday expressed hope that the U.S. Congress will approve a free trade deal between South Korea and the United States after the November election.

``Some Democrats in Congress have indicated the possibility of the approval of the KORUS FTA in the lame duck session that will follow the November election," Yonhap News quoted Lee as telling a breakfast meeting at a hotel in Montgomery, Ala., where South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor employs more than 3,200 people at a factory.

Democratic congressman Artur Davis, elected from the seventh district in Alabama, voiced his support for the FTA and urged Congress to pass the legislation as expeditiously as possible.

"The Korean FTA represents an incredible opportunity for U.S. exporters and will benefit Alabama in an enormous way," he said. "It is the most commercially significant free trade agreement the U.S. has negotiated in over a decade and we would be wise to move forward with it."

U.S. President George W. Bush has said congressional ratification of the FTA will increase bilateral trade by up to $20 billion annually, bringing two-way trade close to the $100 billion mark.

Seoul and Washington signed the FTA in June last year and are waiting for the legislatures of both sides to ratify it, as U.S. congressmen shy away from action in a sensitive election year. Protectionists fear the free trade deal might cost jobs for American workers.