Seoul Hires US Lobbyist for FTA Ratification

South Korea has signed a contract with a U.S. lobbyist to facilitate congressional ratification of a pending free trade deal amid growing opposition to the pact fueled by the global economic crisis, Yonhap News reported Monday quoting an informed source.

The South Korean embassy in Washington signed the six-month contract with Parven Pomper Strategies in December, the source said, adding the contract worth $120,000 became effective as of Jan. 1 this year and can be renewed once on the same terms and conditions.

The Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, signed in June 2007, has been in limbo as the Democratic-led Congress in Washington has remained reluctant to back the deal due to opposition from trade unions, which fear possible job losses amid the worsening global economic crisis.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proposed renegotiation of the free trade deal, known as KORUS FTA, at a Senate confirmation hearing last month, citing an imbalance in auto trade and restrictions in beef shipments.

"If the South Koreans are willing to re-engage negotiations on these vital provisions of the agreement, we will work with them to get to resolution," Clinton said, calling on South Korea to provide "genuine improvements" in the auto industry and other market sectors.

Clinton is due in Seoul next week on the third leg of her Asian tour, her first overseas trip since taking office last month, and is expected to discuss the FTA with Seoul officials.

U.S. President Barack Obama, who once called the Korea FTA "badly flawed," has also noted the auto trade issue, saying that South Korea exports more than 700,000 autos to the U.S. annually while importing just 6,000.

South Korea contests such statistics, saying the figures include 250,000 units made in the U.S. at an Alabama plant owned by South Korea's largest automaker, Hyundai Motor, and exclude more than 125,000 automobiles sold in South Korea by GM Daewoo, a Korean subsidiary of U.S. automaker GM.

The free trade deal has not yet been ratified by the legislatures of the two allies.

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